Who would have thought it?

I thought me and Penny had life pretty much sussed out. I had my job at the factory and got pretty regular overtime. Between that and the family allowance we were O.K. The kids were fine - growing up fast but they were good kids and doing pretty well at school. Then this damn virus struck! At first it sounded as if it was something that wouldn't affect us; it was all over in China but before you knew it it had spread across the world and was attacking and killing people in the U.K. You can't see it, smell it or feel it but it is there and it's a killer; an assassin.Life changed overnight! Unless a business was deemed to be essential it was shut down so the factory closed for a start. Then the schools closed and we were told we had to do home schooling. Everyone had to stay in their own homes unless they went out for essential items or an hour's exercise and when you did go out what they called 'social distancing' was in place; we had to keep two metres away from...

I would never have expected to use the words 'cancer' and 'Doris Jones' in the same sentence but here we are. Right from the time I found the lump I was convinced it was benign - totally convinced. My biggest health worry was catching this wretched virus that is sweeping around the world and now I am even more vulnerable it seems. Predictably my son Jonathan said I needed to move up to Scotland to be near to him and his family but to be honest that is the last thing I need!. This has been my home for so many years I've all but lost count. I have friends here, I have a life here - well there'll be more of that when we know how to beat this virus. But move to Scotland of all places! Never! Between ourselves I have to say that I am not a fan of Jonathan's wife. I love my grandchildren of course and only wish I could see more of them but their mother is not quite my cup of tea. I always feel that she looks down on me. Well O.K. I'm just an ordinary woman, I ...

If people tell you you are no good often enough you end up believing them; they can't all be wrong can they? People have been telling me I'm no good for as long as I can remember. They tell me to my face or say it behind my back. "You're no good, Danny Black," they say and "Danny Black? He's no good, he won't amount to anything." I don't remember much about my Dad, he left Mum and me when I was still a baby and we never heard any more from him; haven't got a clue where he is now. People say he was no good but I'd still like to have known him and had him in my life. I didn't have friends at school; the kids used to take the piss out of me and anyway I couldn't do a lot of the things that they all did. For instance I could never have kids home for tea with me. When your Mum's an alcoholic life isn't what you might call normal. Other kids went home to play while their mothers made them tea, watched T.V. with them or helpe...

People think I'm shallow you know. "Oh there goes Jacquie Frost,"they say, "fancies herself that one." They think I don't know! But I do. I don't think it's shallow to look after yourself and keep fit. I run regularly and exercise keeps my figure toned. My job is pretty sedentary so I think it's even more important to exercise. I used to run with a club but that all dried up with lockdown but I still make sure I run every day. I thought I had met a nice bloke a little while back; I used to see him every day when I ran and we always had a bit of a chat. He was really attractive - fit - I could see real potential in him but it turned out he was gay. What a waste! People think I'm desperate to find a man, accuse me of throwing myself at anyone which is not true. I just want someone to love me and care for me and look after me is that so very wrong? O.K. I had two unfortunate incidents with married men at work but that wasn't all my fault. I ...

When they asked me to do a post I thought they were joking. Me? Gladys Snipes write a post for a blog? It's all I can do to write my shopping list! But they said they wanted as many viewpoints as possible so I thought I'd give it a go. I've been giving a lot of things a go I would never have thought of doing so why not try a post for a blog? What do you want me to say? I asked and they said it was what I wanted to say that mattered and to just pretend I was chatting to a mate. So here goes... To say I don't write anything except a shopping list isn't quite true I suppose because I wrote my Jimmy's eulogy and that took some doing let me tell you. Poor Jimmy, I still can't believe he's gone but the truth is like our Jason said, we lost him twice. We lost the man we knew and loved when he had the first stroke; that man he became wasn't even a shadow of the man he was. Then of course he had another massive stroke and died. I fancied Jimmy Snipes from the...