Tag Archives: illness

Courtship rituals for the widowed and widowed-to-be (Rousse)

I met the young red-haired doctor around the time of TPR’s final illness. It was convenient (to me) that he had lost his wife to cancer a year earlier. Amongst our courtship activities we marked (appalling) Masters dissertations, walked through … Continue reading

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Heart palpitations at the dinner table (Rousse)

Pressed up against KJ, I could feel his erratic heart beat through my clothing. I whispered ‘Are you OK?’, and he nodded his head. At the other end of the dining table, another friend raised his eyebrows in question. I … Continue reading

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Arty party ends in dreadful drowning (Rousse)

While we were out, my sister S invited an entire year group of art students to our Edinburgh flat. She had captured them on the promise of a workshop on the interpretation of lived experience of mental illness in creative … Continue reading

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The British Library and Boris (Rousse)

I unexpectedly bumped into VAE in the vaults of the British Library. She was on sick leave in the UK, having suffered illness since her move to Singapore several months earlier. VAE’s current destination was one of the rare books … Continue reading

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The Grinch faces up to death (Rousse)

‘Come on Rousse!’ shouted JG through the door, ‘We’ve all travelled miles to see you at this party’. I had no choice. I would have to head downstairs and face everyone. First, however, I spent a few moments with the … Continue reading

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Heart disease stunts growth (Rousse)

Somehow I had to extract myself from under the sand dune before the tide came up any further, then swim across the bay to join the others on the island. The tricky part was to push my way out of … Continue reading

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BBC employee discovers drug den in Edinburgh’s Stockbridge (Rousse)

My high-powered job on Radio 4 required regular trips to London for meetings. Because I needed to be up early the next morning to catch the 05:40 train, I had to consider my sleeping options carefully. The first possibility was … Continue reading

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Loss of voice and mind (Rousse)

When I returned to work after a bout of illness I discovered two things. First, builders had demolished all the women’s toilets in my wing. Second, when it was announced that I was off sick, colleagues had queued at KC’s … Continue reading

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