I think it would be fair to say that I have not had a happy life; to say it has been largely an unrelenting, uphill struggle would not be an exaggeration.  You look surprised readers, given the merry nature of my blog but misery teaches you some valuable lessons one of which is not to burden other people.

When I was 23, and still coming to terms with the loss of my lovely father at a younger age than I am now, I was told that my brother, aged 28, had only two months to live.  The reply from the person I confided in? ‘Well at least you’ve got time to get used to it’.  Lucky me or what?  Someone else remarked on the good fortune of my Mother in having four other children – so one more or less hardly mattered then?  I didn’t even take a day off work.

The four went down to three a couple of years later when my sister also died, aged 27 but by then I knew better than to expect sympathy so I didn’t bother asking,  Or when my brother-in-law, who had given me away at my wedding in the absence of any living male relatives, was killed in a tragic accident two years later.

When I was going through a dreadful, never ending divorce, when even the judge could spot I was being bullied to a point where she imposed a restraining order, not one single person asked if I was coping. Me?  Of course I was!

When things like this happen you do cope.  You wouldn’t, if you were given any other option, but you’re not.  So Keep Calm and Carry On. And on and on.

On the plus side I, like everyone in my family, have a sense of humour.  Yes, possibly my only good point.  If you want someone to ferret out a silver lining to pretty much any cloud, I am your first point of call.  I like, or rather used to like, to think that there are few faces I can’t bring a smile to, few days I can’t brighten.

It turns out I’m wrong.  Sorry about that.  I give up.