365 Days in 365 Words

I’m not normally big on reviewing the years of my life…

1975 – Started primary school.

1982 – Finished primary and started secondary school.

1988 – Finished secondary school and started university.

1992 – Graduated with my first degree (there would be more) and began a one-year sabbatical as President of the Glasgow University Students’ Representative Council.

And so on, and so forth.

So much gets missed out. For instance…

1975 – Also the year my mum passed her driving test in our bright orange VW ‘Jeans’ Beetle; the ‘Jeans’ denotes the denim upholstery of our very 1970s car. There were metal studs, too.

So, what about 2023… unlike 2021, there was no Viva (passed with no corrections), no breast cancer diagnosis, no chemotherapy, no sepsis, no baldness… unlike 2022, there were no cancer surgeries, no radiotherapy, no immunotherapy (chemo-lite, as I called it).

What there was… a six-week Fear of Recurrence course (thanks to the incredible Beatson Cancer Charity), two trips to the US (work for Ronnie; enjoying the sun and hanging out with some of my favourite people for me), one trip to Italy (San Gimignano, Siena, Volterra, more great friends), the loss of our beloved flat coated retriever Hamish, the addition of our exhausting but very sweet flat coated retriever pup Harris, Brodie’s book launch (yay!), photos of Brodie travelling the world, the hashtag #BrodieOnTour, postcards from Brodie, some brilliant new friends, the chance to reconnect with some lovely old ones, an instance of ghosting (my first; I wouldn’t recommend it), charity events, book events, nice food (and the ability to taste it, including Ronnie’s new prawn and mushroom curry recipe), fantastic books (mainly consumed via Audible – thanks chemo for wrecking my concentration, still), a little writing, a couple of new notebooks in which I jotted ideas and the beginnings of new stories, incredible live music that reminded me how much I love music, a record player, records.

And… thanks to the very difficult years of 2021 and 2022, in 2023 I noticed (and marvelled at) unusual cloud formations, tall trees, the feeling of carpet under my toes, the simple pleasure of having coffee with a friend, the joy of a long drive and a good audiobook.