Life is like the water in a river – each chapter begins, unfolds, and then it’s gone forever, as the water flows from its source to the estuary, only to lose itself in the immensity of the sea. Like flowing water, our happy moments only lingered for a while, and then they were gone, swiftly but inexorably heading towards the end, an end neither of us wanted but both knew was inevitable. It’s incredible how all relationships are …
Tag: life
She turns it again and again inside her head and for the thousandth time she is unable to reach a conclusion. Rather, she feels unable to decide. Her life hangs in the balance and she has no clue about what she will do next. She knows what she wants to do, what she would like to do, but then she thinks of the unsurmountable obstacles and she falters. She cannot do it. But how can she not do it, and …
She looks out of the window. It’s raining outside, as it is raining in her heart. She remembers an old song by Leo Sayer “It’s raining in my heart”, but then it meant nothing to her, as her life was full of sunshine, no heavy clouds on the horizon. Unfortunately, it now seems so appropriate. Forty years Forty years, she thinks. Forty years of love with a man, youthful years shared, then a life built together, the happiness of …
Life is seldom simple, and neither are mother-daughter relationships; as much as we may love our mothers, and they love us, it always seems complicated. At least in our family. For many years you fail to understand why it is so. You try, you try hard. And then one day, suddenly it all becomes so clear, and you finally grasp it, and it becomes so much easier to understand – and forgive. Old times Take Granny, for instance. …
Just the other day I was thinking about 1979 and how it was a year of major changes in my life, when I realized it was forty years ago. I simply couldn’t believe it! A decisive year First of all, it was a year of learning. I learned about love but also about disappointment and grief. New people came into my life that were very important for quite some years: I gained a new love, who would mean …
A year ago my friend Gabi turned 50 and she was planning a big party with her family and friends, when suddenly she had terrible news: she had breast cancer. Naturally she had no heart for the party so she cancelled it. Now this would be a huge blow for anyone, but when you have had kidney problems for many years, begun dialysis at forty, had a kidney transplant only to have that same kidney removed a mere two …
He sits outside and gestures for the waiter to bring him his usual espresso coffee and sparkling water. The café’s terrace if full of tourists – of course at this time of the year the island is even more crowded than in the summer, because of the mild temperatures and the brilliant celebrations of New Year’s Eve…even so, he enjoys sitting here on sunlit days, feeling the sun warm on his face and gazing at the blue sky and not …
Looking back to her childhood and teenage years, she thinks she probably read too many fairytales; she remembers believing they could come true. As a precocious child she read many stories, from Cinderella to Sleeping Beauty and from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves to The Little Mermaid; as a teenager she thrived on romantic stories which most of the times had happy endings, and when they did not, such as The Little Mermaid or, later, one of her favourite …
Wednesday evening of the strangest summer I can remember. Are we really in July or have we set the calendar wrong? – we ask ourselves one grey morning after another. Last year it was the tragedy of the wildfires – now sadly replicated in Greece – and now there is even a joke on internet about someone asking our prime minister – highly criticised last year because his government was anything but effective regarding the fires – how he plans …
These four words inevitably remind me of the first scenes of the Disney movie “The Lion King”, one that I find very special, for several reasons – it tells a story of love, courage and tenacity, it has a beautiful soundtrack – featuring the incredibly powerful song “The circle of life” – it takes place in Africa… or simply because it was the favourite of my son Afonso who loved to watch it while sitting on my lap. Now that I …