Pick Me Up! 15-Aug-2019

Standing at an ATM machine with my card in hand, I was very confused. I didn’t know what the machine was. I was just staring at it, holding up the queue. That’s when I knew I needed help. I asked for a memory test, but I was told that I was far too young to have dementia. After all, I was only 58. But, after failing the test twice, the doctors sent me for a head scan, and soon, they dropped a bombshell. I had vascular dementia. ‘Where do you see me in five years’ time?’ I asked. ‘You won’t be alive then,’ the doctor confessed. I went home that night and tried to digest what I had just been told. I assumed that someone would be in touch for…

WE CAN’T WAIT FOR THISÉ Us Brits love a classic afternoon tea. Nothing has ever beat a soft scone piled high with clotted cream and some flavoursome finger sandwiches. Until now. To commemorate National Afternoon Tea Week, from 12 to 18 August, Bite Me Burger Co. is revolutionising the quintessential British tradition. Traditional sandwiches and scones are out, and pick ‘n’ mix mini burgers and burger cupcakes are in. There are burgers to please any palette, from deep fried Codzilla to chickpea Vegan Me. Why not switch up your standard Afternoon Tea Week with some gherkins, caramelised onions and chocolate patty cake? At £20 per person, this afternoon tea will have you sacri-fries your classic tea for treats that will actually leave you feeling full. Head to bitemeburger.com to book your…

I just blinked and lost six months! I feel like this little madam Evie has only just arrived, but look at her - six months already! Amanda Hadley, Cradley Heath My beautiful daughter Aliyah, two, posing on holiday. Gemma Clayton, Nottingham Me and my boyfriend Olly going to our uni summer ball! Sarah Cross, Plymouth Here is a photo of me with my sister Dawn on a recent trip to Cardiff Castle. As you can see, we had too much fun trying on the military costumes! Ruth Bateman, Wolverhampton This is my granddaughter, baby Ava, reading Pick Me Up! She’s nine months old and your youngest fan!  Christine Kavanagh, Liverpool If your letter makes Star Letter of the week, you will receive some beautiful blooms from Flying Flowers. With over…

As I strolled up the long driveway of my parents’ home, I caught sight of their neighbour, Stanislaw Johnson, then 73, pottering about in his front garden. ‘Hi there,’ I called. ‘Alright,’ he grunted back. My daughter Mackenzie, then eight, and I had moved in with my mum and dad, Patricia, 74, and Peter, 70, in Lytham, Blackpool, after Mum was diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis. It meant we saw quite a bit of Stanislaw as we came and went. ‘That’s it, good girl, Caroline,’ he said in a soft voice as I walked past. ‘Lovely girl.’ His comments seemed a bit odd, but I just put him down as eccentric. ‘I’m sure he’s harmless,’ Mum reassured me. They’d known him for years and just thought he was an odd bod.…

In 2014, I was due to give evidence at court, but the day before, I wasn’t feeling very well. Stan and I had moved into our own home just down the road from Mum and Dad’s. That morning, in bed, I started bleeding. I was only seven weeks along, so I knew it was serious. I grieved for the baby I'd lost and blamed him Stan rushed me to Blackpool Victoria Hospital, but by the time we got there, it was too late. ‘I’m so sorry,’ a doctor told me. ‘You’ve suffered a miscarriage.’ Crying into Stan’ s arms, I was completely devastated. Heartbroken, I was convinced the miscarriage was down to the trauma Stanislaw had put me through. I despised him for ruining my life and quashing all of…

To Dad, I remember the last day I was able to have a proper conversation with you. It was April 2017, and you were at my new house, that me and my partner, Ryan, 24, had just moved into. I’d been living there for four months after leaving home. As I walked into the dining room, I was amazed at how hard you’d worked, putting up the lilac wallpaper. ‘Wow, it looks so good, Dad,’ I told you. ‘You’re welcome, Baba,’ you’d winked. As a painter and decorator, you had jumped at the chance to make my home perfect . I bought everything myself, but you decorated. You only asked for a pint of Stella in return. ‘I’m going to finish up now, love,’ you told me. ‘I’ll hang the…