Author: Chatter

Have you ever had surgery? What for?

Unfortunately I have had surgery many times. When I was 7 I had my appendix removed. When I was 10 I had adhesions and had a small part of my bowel removed.

At 18 I had my tonsils out.

At 23 I needed a D&C after a miscarriage and again after another miscarriage when I was 25.

I had a procedure when I was 40 to remove a polyp from my cervix.

This isn’t going well you’re thinking. This must be the lot.

No

I needed my heart shocked back into the sinus rhythm after having Atrial fibrillation.

When I was 72 I had a pre cancerous tumour removed from my bowel.

And after all that I’m still here. Amazing!

Aren’t doctors and nurses wonderful.

What notable things happened today?

Unfortunately the tragic plane crash in India dominated the headlines. So sad to see lives of so many gone in a matter of minutes.

Those on the ground going about their daily lives gone too.

So sad to see the young gay couple who had sent a video from their hotel before boarding the plane. They spoke of how they had such a great time in India and talked about their plans to make a blog with the highlights of their trip. 😢

The trouble persisted here in Northern Ireland with riots targeting immigrants who were living peacefully in the communities. Police being targeted and families being burned out of their homes.

A leisure centre attacked and fire bombed on the erroneous assertion that the evacuated families were there.

What has happened to humanity ?

So all and all a notable day. Lives changed in the blink of an eyelid.

It’s hard to come to terms with these happenings.

If you had to change your name, what would your new name be?

I think I’d change it to something that would make people laugh.

Imagine being in a queue and lots of bored people waiting for their name to be called. Imagine their faces when I was called with my new name Daisy Duck.

No more plain Ann Allan. Well you did ask 😂

Describe your dream chocolate bar.

My dream chocolate bar will be one that tastes like a Mars Bar but has no calories.

So a moment on the lips won’t be a lifetime on the hips.

Do you remember your favorite book from childhood?

It has to be Heidi by Joanna Spyri.

I used to imagine that I had a grandfather, I didn’t, both died long before I was born and he lived like Heidi’s grandfather up in the Alps.

I could imagine the little wooden hut and my cosy little bed covered with a sheep fleece. It was always warm and we spent our day out on the mountain. I know, I was very naive at 16 😂

What public figure do you disagree with the most?

It has to be Trump. I can’t think of one good quality.

He only stood for the Presidency to keep out of jail and make money out of those who voted for him.

He is trying to turn the country into another North Korea where he is completely in charge, law means nothing and cruelty and ignorance are his main objectives.

He’s also trying to bring religion back to a growing secular society. He is against those who are doing no harm like the lgbtq community and to immigrants

Plus I worry that he has access to the nuclear codes. He is becoming more senile and is being manipulated in the background by ex Fox News hosts who are mostly uneducated and out only for power.

It’s amazing that of all the highly educated politicians in the USA he should be elected to one of the most important positions in the world.

Let’s hope there are some in his administration that can control his erratic behaviour as his aim seems to be to destroy the USA.

What does “having it all” mean to you? Is it attainable?

To me, after members of my family having been diagnosed with serious illnesses, having it all means being healthy, having enough to live comfortably and having a loving family.

Just recently with no warning my son was diagnosed with throat cancer. He has undergone 7 weeks severe treatment. How would all the money in the world have compensated for watching my son suffer?

Thankfully he’s on the road to recovery and will hopefully get the all clear in July but nothing in this world is certain.

I don’t think we can ever have it all. Just look around at those who are millionaires and billionaires. They look miserable, don’t have stable relationships and have two or three wives. Obviously they don’t have everything. Also how can you spend all that money? They could make their lives better by donating to the poor and hungry in the world but they are always striving for more money and the power that goes with it.

Having it all means many different things to many different people but I’ll settle for what I have, a loving family and enough to live comfortably. This enables dealing with what life throws at us. We almost have it all.

What is the legacy you want to leave behind?

One of caring for others. I would also like to think that along the way I’d been a good friend and reached out to those who were going through a bad time.

I also think my legacy is the family I will be leaving behind. The fact that they have grown into successful happy, well adjusted adults means a lot.

I did a little journalism over the last few years and some and in particular one article made a difference. #Viewdigital . Most councils are now introducing changing facilities for the disabled on their premises. No more changing on the floor.

I’ve written my memories here on Chatter and made video blogs on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/Apallan1 so my ancestors can actually read or view a big part of my life.

I think I was able to forgive people for the way they made me feel at vulnerable times in my life and that takes courage.

So I think all in all my descendants will look back on my life and think of me with love. I hope so anyway 😉

How do you feel about cold weather?

Cold 😜

How do you balance work and home life?

Easily I’m retired. I no longer need to balance my time. My time is more or less my own to do as I please.

Depends on the weather. Can go out walking or I can spend the day at home doing housework, gardening reading, meeting friends.

Would I like to be back in the position of trying to balance work and home life? No, I wouldn’t. I ended up trying to balance work, family and a university degree all at the one time and I ended up having a nervous breakdown.

So I don’t advise taking on more than you can comfortably manage. In the long run nobody benefits when you try to spread yourself too thinly.