Pick Me Up! Special February 2019

Romance is in the air with Valentine’s Day on the horizon, and we have the greatest love story this month. When Emma met Daniel, he was convinced that they had no future together because of his debilitating condition, (pg8) but she proved him wrong. And with some much needed tough words, they now have a wonderful family. Inspirational Mandie (pg22) is fighting cancer and her bucket list is keeping her going. Finding love wasn’t on the list – but she couldn’t be happier to now have Ross by her side for both the good and bad days. Poor Gillian was just doing her job when she was viciously assaulted in the street (pg26). Her attacker’s excuse? He hadn’t eaten enough. There had been no warning signs for Gillian – but…

Sweet birthday girl Happy first birthday to my darling girl Hannah. Mummy and Daddy love you to bits and we're so happy that you came into our lives. Alexis Knight, Hull What a cutie pie! My nephew Tyler is so adorable and I just can't stop taking pictures of him. I'm sure I'm his favourite auntie! Sonya Garner, Nottingham While at Nana's. My mum took this adorable picture of my daughter Mia when she was visiting. She loves visiting her nana, and is turning into quite the lady! Jeanette McCarthy, Glasgow Tiny kitchen helper I absolutely love baking with my daughter Mila. She's very handy in the kitchen, and even better, she loves doing the washing up, too! Ashley Lamb, Birmingham Friends forever While we all have busy lives, it’s…

Hide and cat seek I was looking everywhere for my cat Misty, then I found her here, in the back of our garden, completely happy and oblivious to the world. Carly Frost, Coventry Please play with me! Bruno is such a happy dog, loves playing outside, and adores attention. Here he is begging me to play with him! Donna Ragland, Kent Cone of shame Little Jasper has been a bit poorly lately and has to wear this cone for a few weeks. He’s handled it so well and I’m so proud of him. Lynsey Hatton, Northampton…

My phone pinged with a friend request on Facebook from a Damian Paine. ‘Oh no,’ I sighed, recognising his face. I’d met him on a night out a few days before and he was just an annoying drunk who wouldn’t leave me alone. Sorry for pestering you, I was a little worse for wear, he wrote. I felt bad not sending him a reply, so I typed back. Before long, we were pinging messages back and forth most days, and I saw a different side to him. He was funny, charming and very supportive. Damian was in an unhappy marriage, and things were coming to an end with my long-term partner, so we sought comfort and advice in each other. Over a coffee in McDonald’s one day, we got chatting…

Giggling in front of the computer screen, my friends dared me to click ‘accept’ on Facebook. ‘Stop! I don’t want to start chatting to strangers,’ I laughed, pulling the mouse back from my friend’s grip. Daniel confessed at the very start We were scrolling through my homepage and it suggested I join the ‘are you interested page’, which was like an old-fashioned Tinder for Facebook and showed you singles and like-minded people in the area. It was 2009 and I was 18, living at home with my parents in Clifton, Nottingham, and although I was single, I definitely wasn’t looking to meet someone online. ‘Go on, it’ll be a laugh,’ one of my friends chuckled, goading me on. ‘Fine, but I’m deleting it straight afterwards!’ I insisted. The next day,…

Giving my phone a swift bash, I waited for it to switch on. No luck. ‘Can you come and take a look?' I asked my daughter Lesley, 30, over the landline. Technology had never been my strong point. I had a cheap Samsung phone and a small TV in the living room, but even then, I could only manage to do the basics. ‘It just needs a software update,' Lesley said, taking a look. And just a few minutes and some clicks later, it was fixed. A few days later, we were out shopping when Lesley plugged her phone into some kind of device in her bag. ‘What's that?' I asked. ‘I've never seen one of those before!' She told me it was a power bank – a portable battery…