Pick Me Up! Special Holiday 2018

Often inspiration can come from the most unusual of places and can change the course of our lives. For Bonnie (pg18), whispers from a toilet cubicle prompted her to literally get back on her horse. While a concerned comment from Chloe’s hairdresser ended up saving her life (pg30). This month we have two very different outcomes from what appeared to be a common cold. Emma (pg32) started out with a cough and ended up with a baby after just a two-day pregnancy! Kirsten (pg36) teased her husband about his man-flu, but within hours she was at his bedside, willing him not to die. A mother’s love is a powerful thing. Both Karla (pg26) and Maxine (pg55) were faced with every mum’s nightmare when their babies had to fight from the…

Such sweet memories I found this old picture of my sister Stacey and I in a box in our parents’ room. It was taken about 15 years ago, so it’s fair to say we’ve changed a lot since then! Renee, Edinburgh Going fruity for the season Trying to be healthy this summer, I made this fruit tart complete with kiwis and pomegranates. Delicious! Steph, Stoke-on-Trent A sign of spring I was lucky to get such a close-up picture of this beautiful butterfly. I love taking walks during the summer, and this was a treat to see. Angie, Scunthorpe What a hoot! It was a privilege to get so close to this little guy at a rescue centre recently. I was a bit weary of holding him myself, but he was…

Watching my parents drive away in the car, I suddenly felt alone. Picking up my bag, I headed inside the huge building. ‘Welcome to your new school,’ a teacher beamed. I was seven years old when I started my first term at Little Mead Grammar School. ‘You’re going to meet some lovely people here,’ she said, guiding me through the corridors. I was the youngest girl boarding at the school that year. I’d never been away from my parents for this long, so it was scary. My mum was German and my dad was a British soldier, stationed out there with her. I spent a lot of time bouncing around from country to country and my parents eventually decided to settle me at a school near my dad’s mum in…

The pain came back as I was busy making Dad’s dinner. ‘Oh no, not again,’ I groaned under my breath. Dad clocked me wincing. ‘Shouldn’t you get that checked out?’ he asked me, looking worried. ‘It’s just a tummy ache,’ I told him, pasting on a smile. The last thing I wanted to do was make him worry. My dad, Peter, 65, had kidney failure and I was his full-time carer. Diagnosed five years earlier, only a transplant would save him, but he wasn’t well enough to survive the op. He spent much of his time in bed or hooked up for dialysis. With my children Shannon, 21, and Thomas, 17, all grown up now, I’d devoted myself to making Dad comfortable. I was happy to do it. But then…

Teddy's been in our family for three generations. All the hugs have left him a little threadbare over the years… Not that my daughter cared. When my dad James, 57, gave Teddy to my 21-month-old girl Zoe, she was thrilled. He went everywhere with her – even to the loo! She cuddled Teddy, took him to nursey, and ‘fed' him. Soon, what was left of his dark brown fur was matted with food. But no one could replace her beary best friend. Only, in February, Zoe went out shopping with her dad Paul, 41, in Glasgow. And they lost Teddy! ‘I didn't realise until we got home,' Paul fretted. Poor Zoe was distraught. She screamed and cried when I suggested sleeping with a different toy. The next day, I dropped…

Gary Morrissey, 35, Washington, Tyne and Wear After treating myself to a takeaway, I needed to work it off at the gym. Pounding on the treadmill, I worked up a sweat. Back home, I stepped into the shower and eased my aching shoulders under the water. But, just as I bent down to pick up the shower gel, I suddenly caught a flicker of something out of the corner of my eye. I peered closer. There, poking through the holes of the overflow, was a tiny tongue! What on earth?! Then a little head started to emerge… It was a snake! I slipped backwards in shock. Was it poisonous? By now, the little snake was slithering along the bath ledge. Slowly, I put one foot out of the bath… Keeping…