You South Africa 08 Apr 2021

A few years ago I was heavily addicted to drugs. I lost my family, my home, my self-respect and myself. I was so absorbed in my need to get drugs that I didn’t care about the broken hearts and relationships I left behind. I was selfish and foolish and in the blink of an eye 10 years passed me by and reality started to sink in: if I didn’t get clean I doubted I’d ever see another 10 years. My health and wellbeing were never my concern, only drugs were. It’s almost a year now and I can proudly say I’m clean and healthy. I even gave up cigarettes. I have only God and my family to thank for my recovery. I just want anyone who’s battling with an addiction to know there’s…

YOU know that feeling when you go to the hairdresser and she gets it just right? Not too radical but not too much the same as usual – just the perfect balance of freshness and familiarity to make you feel like you just want to be out and about. That’s the feeling I got as I looked at the lovely pages in this edition. They’ve been given a bit of a facelift but still feel like the same YOU that you know and love. You’ve given us a lot of feedback that we’ve taken very seriously – there’ll be less white text on dark backgrounds, for example. And we’re making sure that the size of the puzzles doesn’t shrink and that there’s room for you to make notes as you work through…

MY BUCKET LIST I had to smile when reading the article about learning new skills as an adult (YOU, 18 February). I qualified from Unisa in my late 30s and when I turned 40, I decided to learn how to ride a motorbike. I still ride (although not as often I’d like) and love every moment of it. Four days before I turned 49 last year I started playing ice hockey. Despite all the falls and bruises I absolutely love it and, so far, no regrets. For every decade that I turn I’ve made a bucket list of new things to learn. Never let your sex (I’m a woman), disability or age get the better of you. JO DUNN, CAPE TOWN GIVE MEGHAN A BREAK Once again Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, gets all the blame and…

Just as salmon have no choice but to swim upstream, we have no choice but to accept the loadshedding forced upon us. I really sympathise with non-breastfeeding moms who have to prepare and warm bottles for their newborns, as well as for the elderly who live alone. I also feel sorry for myself when I forget to pre-boil the kettle for a cuppa just prior to a power outage. Two hours without tea can be very long. I’m in my late sixties and have always suffered from insomnia, so I read extensively. I was on the loo reading at 1am when the lights suddenly went out. Bummer! (Couldn’t resist that, sorry). I’d forgotten about the 1-3am loadshedding. But my question is, with the nights still being humid, how do people manage to sleep…

Meghan! She’s an actress of note! The Oprah interview was proof of that! Following in her steps is Qiniso of The Bachelorette. What a pair of fakes. KIM, SMS To respond to Beg from George (YOU Say, 18 March): my pet hate is people standing with their hands on their hips and blocking the way. CHAR, SMS Society raises young girls to be catty with one another because of what they look like. For most of my life I’ve been laughed at for no reason. I’m a human being who just wants to live her life. Young ladies, if your grandmother, mother or friends says something to you that judges another girl, please don’t laugh at the comment. Talk to her about not being so judgmental. I’d rather have no friends than toxic ones. BE…

‘MADDOX WANTS TO LEGALLY CHANGE HIS LAST NAME TO JOLIE’ DIVORCE is a dime a dozen in Hollywood and couples once so loved-up often end up tearing each other apart with knives dripping with rancour and recrimination. But even by Tinseltown standards, this one is quite something. Maybe it’s because Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie seemed so perfect together – the golden couple to end all golden couples, parents to a picture-perfect rainbow brood of beautiful babes. And they all just seemed to love each other so darned much. Yet while it may have seemed like paradise to all of us, there was plenty churning away below the surface. And now, four-and-a-half years after the implosion of Brangelina, those knives are still being sharpened. At stake are the six children – and while both…