Look what arrived yesterday morning!
Seriously giddy as a kipper! I'm in a book! Eek!
Before I
plucked up the courage to start blogging, and I do this quite a lot of the
time, was viewing from the sidelines. There was the
fantastic Wendy, who triumphed so much and blogged with such conviction on www.savette.com, and then there was super Jo, who's positivity towards autism
is an inspiration over on www.mummyworgan.blogspot.co.uk, and
then there was this wonderful woman Michelle, who pulled their stories together
and like wings of an angel wrapped them into this safe haven of support and
warmth, over at http://michelledaly.blogspot.co.uk.
I have to
thank Wendy for her support and encouragement, and helping me find my
confidence to write that first blog post. I had absolutely no idea
whether anybody would be interested in reading anything I had to say, with
Wendy's help she made me realise that
if only one person read it and found shared experience then it is well worth
it. She probably doesn't know how much she has impacted on my life, nor would
Jo or Michelle, we make comments on posts and retweet stories but not necessary say these
words.
Thank you
ladies, and to all the other ladies out there who blog with passion, a huge
Thank you, you guys do make a difference to peoples lives.
Michelle Daly
writes this fantastic blog Warrior Mums, I stumbled across it, like most
things, on Twitter. There was lots of activity on Twitter one Sunday
night, and I thought I would hop on over to find out what was causing such
excitement. Wow! What incredible stories were being told and such
inspiration. I was truly astonished, that these ladies were laying bare such emotion for all to read.
I wept, I laughed and I felt their pain. Michelle collaborates with
these fantastic Mums, sharing their incredible stories, the lows, the highs and
with some delightful photographs. I do love a good photo!
I don't know
how it happened, but I was honoured to
be asked by Michelle to contribute to her growing collection of super Warrior
Mums' stories. At first I didn't know whether I could do it, it wasn't
the stuff about our 'Bob' that was the difficulty, it was talking about me!
Not many professionals ask about you! There were a few tears cried
over the piece, some raw nerves plucked but throughout the process Michelle was
at the other end of the line.
When you read
about Michelle, and I suggest that you get a copy of her book With a little
help from my friends http://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Help-my-Friends/dp/0957048734,
you soon realise what
an incredible woman she is. Amazon's
information about the author "Michelle Daly was kicked out of school at
age fifteen with a reference stating, “Michelle thinks life is one big joke.”
She went on to work with children in residential care and in 1972, at nineteen,
became the youngest single woman in Britain to obtain legal guardianship of a
child; Marie, a seven year-old with mental and physical disabilities. In 1990,
they moved to Ireland, a country she refers as her second home, where she home schooled her two children, Patrick and Anna. An
advocate for children’s rights and people with special needs, she lives with
Marie in Liverpool. Michelle has also written a book of fiction, I Love
Charlotte Brontë, which is available in paperback and Kindle editions."
I can tell you so much more about this lovely lady; tenacity, fight, passionate, dedicated, courageous, gutsy, love,
warmth, inspiration, brave and
someone I am so proud to call a friend.
Personally speaking, I had never experienced someone willing to fight so
hard for a child, let alone one that wasn't related to them. I'd
experienced being fought over, never having anybody fighting for me! I
was amazed!
When Michelle mentioned she was putting together the stories to create a
book, I don't think it sunk in to be honest. I knew she was busy putting
it all together and checked in every now and then to make sure she was OK.
Then bang! It's here!
I will never tire of saying what a privilege it has been to be
included in this book. It's appropriate that all the proceeds should
go to such a wonderful organisation MENCAP http://www.mencap.org.uk/ and what a lovely foreword from Jan Tregelles, Chief Executive, Royal Mencap
Society. If you only buy one book this year, please pick this one. Within
it you will find a collection of truly marvelous, inspirational and
amazing Mums, all different but with a common bond, love for our children and
families!
To my fellow Warrior Mums, Cheers! What a fantastic club we are in, loved reading every single story and so chuffed we are in it together. To the Warrior Mums of tomorrow, can't wait for you to join us and read your incredible, amazing and inspirational stories. To Michelle, Thank you. You are one in a million, keep doing what you do best, being an Angel! Xxx
One last word; Thank you to all the readers out
there, without your input these posts are merely just twittering from the
front line.
Much love and respect Justine xxx
