Well, May has been an emotional (and extremely busy) month for me…
Firstly, my baby got married, I say baby because she’s my youngest! After having postponed due to Covid, it finally happened on 15th May here in Malta, it was a wonderful day, celebrated with friends old and new. Seeing her so happy filled my heart with so much joy, now she’s been away from home off and on since 2014 but this was emotional for me, seeing her start a new chapter in her life. My new son-in-law Greg (Greggy, as I like to call him – everyone gets a nickname from me) is just lovely, of course he’s English, so I now have an ally. They are so well suited to each other, and I wish them all the happiness in the World. Wedding season has begun in earnest, and I have 4 weddings in total this year already, since I love weddings, this is just wonderful for me, I am travelling abroad for two of them too.
So, my once very female household now has a sudden influx of men to even up the score, coupled with my new grandson we are now at a draw 4 – 4! I guess I’ll have to get used to not winning all the arguments and possibly conceding to some football on the tv more often. Steve of course is delighted, it’s been a long wait for him, he also comes from a family with 5 sisters! Poor Steve he has waited a long time for this to be his reality, better late than never I guess.
Then after all that, I let go of my old home, my children’s family home which has seen so much fun and laughter over the past 30 years, I was unprepared for how emotional that would make me feel, I had been warned by a friend that it would be very hard but I brushed it away thinking, ‘well it’s just a building,’ but no every room, every nook and cranny, has a tale to tell. It was a very happy home. So yes, a very emotional month.
Something else big happened this month too, as most of you know I love to write, be it this blog, letters, short stories etc., initially it was a way of keeping in touch with everyone when I moved to Malta and before the arrival of the internet and emails! During lockdown I wrote my memoir, I’ve always wanted to write a book so that’s how it began, following a writing course I attended at the end of 2019. This is now in the editing process, and I hope it will be published before the end of the year. Now, as many of you already know from my social media posts, I have been involved in another publication recently called ‘RISE’ I have a story in this book, which is an excerpt taken from my memoir, and I am immensely proud to be a part of it. Here I would like to tell you a little bit more about the book and its amazing author, Katie Oman.
I met Katie after we both attended a writing course; we didn’t actually meet during the course but afterwards on the social media site connected to the course. It was very serendipitous for me as we both have similar outlooks and aspirations, so here is a bit about Katie and the book.
Katie Oman is an author, women's empowerment coach, motivational speaker, and psychic. She has written several books to date, including Happiness: Make Your Soul Smile published by O Books in 2018. She is fully committed to inspiring and supporting women to be their full authentic selves and to see themselves for the Queens they are. You can find out more about Katie and her work by going to https://katieoman.co.uk
Half the global population consists of women. If our stories are not told, then we don’t put a seat at the table when it comes to our rights, our needs, and our experiences. When our stories aren’t told or our voices silenced, then a woman’s life is not fully seen, heard, or respected.
For the truth is, we all have a story to tell.
By telling our stories, we can help a woman feel less alone in the world. It could give her hope, inspiration, and guidance to change the course of her own destiny. Stories are not just about filling the time; they help us to see ourselves and to feel less isolated in the world. There are millions of women out there, each one dealing with her own challenges, pain, and issues. And many of them will convince themselves that they are the only ones that have been through something like this. That nobody really cares. That they are all alone.
By women sharing their stories and experiences, we help us all to feel less alone; to have someone relatable who will prove to be a source of inspiration to make positive changes in our own life. Not only this, but the very act of telling your story becomes an act of self-empowerment for the one who shares it. They take ownership of their own experience, which in turn provides healing, clarity and understanding in a way that may not have been able to have been accessed before.
When women tell their stories everyone wins.
The 21 stories you will read in Rise: An Anthology of Women's Stories are told by some phenomenal women. My heart goes out with love and gratitude to each and every one of them for allowing me to hold space to share their story here.
My hope is that they will prove to be inspirational, empowering, and give you hope for your own life.
Rise: An Anthology is available on Amazon from May 4th
50% of the proceeds of the book are being donated to Girls Out Loud, a UK charity that empowers girls and young women. https://girlsoutloud.org.uk/
Well, after all this and the ending of Covid restrictions, mostly, life has gone from fairly quiet to absolutely manic, for me at least, not sure I can cope with it all anymore, but I’m doing my best! Travel back on the menu, hooray! Now, where’s my passport…
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