The following is a chapter from Lizzie’s book ‘Saltwater & Honey’ which she is currently working on. “I’m pregnant!” I whisper to my brother. His eyes respond with wide-eyed excitement, congratulating me with a silent ‘yay!’ The vicar stands to start the service and all eyes are forced forward, resting on the coffin at the front of the crowded chapel….
One of the most common conversations I have with Saltwater and Honey people is about loneliness. The story they carry with them when they go to work or go to church, or on a night out with friends or attending family parties makes them feel isolated. But the thing is they’re not the only ones, whether it’s depression, anxiety, grief,…
Silence, or my fear of silence, is something I’ve wanted to write about for a long time but I’ve struggled to find the words to express exactly what it makes me feel and how I’ve struggled with it. I guess it’s just one of those everyday life struggles that comes with living out a story you’re still not totally comfortable…
Last week we were put in touch with a couple who had a story of recurrent miscarriage, we offered to meet with them, to listen and to tell them they’re not alone. But they declined. After hearing our story of six miscarriages, no baby and no answers they decided they didn’t want to speak to us, I think our story…
I always knew that Jennifer Aniston and I were similar. Our great hair and comic timing are just a couple of examples. But her recent blog for The Huffington Post confirmed our compatibility. She’s fed up. I’m fed up. Actually, I’m not fed up. I’m sad. I’ve been sad for a little while now. I thought it was the weather…
Andrea Leadsom’s ambitions of being the next Prime Minister are in ashes: whatever your feelings about her, you could see, as she bowed out of the Conservative leadership contest yesterday, that she was giving up on a dream. But before the whole saga becomes yesterday’s hooha, it’s worth reflecting on what impact her comments about motherhood have had. Leadsom’s assertion…
Andrea Leadsom, wannabe Prime Minister, today said a stupid thing. As furiously as she back-peddles, the audio recording confirms she really did say the stupid thing. But I’m not lining up to throw a rock at her, she let out an incomplete and unguarded thought and if all my stupid comments were published in the papers, I’d be hated too. …
Last year I celebrated ten years of being married to Sheila. Way back we’d had grand plans of how we were going to celebrate this milestone. It seemed like a biggy. An exotic holiday, an eternity ring (this seemed like a pretty central demand), a full-on romantic blowout… Then, of course, I felt called to become a vicar, and Sheila…
The other week I was asked to give someone some advice about grief. I’m certainly not an expert in grief but I have felt it so I wrote her a letter and thought I’d share it with you…. Unfortunately, I don’t really have any advice on how to ‘grieve well’. I’ve not heard of any tips on ‘good’ ways to…
From fairy tales to films, to epic novels there is always a hero, a victim and a villain. Although it may not be clear at the beginning of the story, we all know by the end of it who the heroes, the victims and the villains are, it’s pretty obvious. A good villain makes you angry, even scared at times,…