Pick Me Up! 20-Aug-2020

Working as an administrative manager for Martins Veterinary Centre, I loved spending time with animals. Then, one day, a particularly poorly looking cat was brought in by Cats Protection. Only a few weeks old, he was on the edge of losing his eyesight and was clearly malnourished. As an administrator, I often travel to Cats Protection’s Adoption Centre in Glasgow to do their paperwork. And over the next few weeks, I regularly came into contact with this cat, who I learned was called Cookie. Unfortunately, the vets had been unable to save his eyesight and he was now blind. The poor thing had been ripped from his mother at what they believed to be about two-weeks-old. He was then sold on Gumtree to an elderly lady. Despite her best efforts,…

HAVE YOU HE ARD OF… PHONE FAKERS? Have you ever turned to your phone to avoid an awkward situation? According to new research by e2save, 75% of smartphone owners admit to faking it. The top reason why people pretend to be on their phone is to avoid strangers on public transport. They also turn to their devices when approached by salespeople, to avoid awkward conversations at family gatherings, and to avoid an old friend. One fifth of us scroll on our screens to avoid an ex, and almost a tenth reach for their phones during a first date. Speaking about the moment when this tactic went horribly wrong, Lucy from Bristol said: ‘I was set up on a blind date but it wasn’t going well. I pretended to take a…

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A wide grin spread across my daughter’s face as she came into the living room. ‘Mum, you know Lloyd,’ she said, introducing me to her new boyfriend. ‘Of course,’ I smiled. They were only 16, but Levi’s grin stretched from ear to ear as she looked at Lloyd. The pair of them had been in the same group of friends since they were 10, often hanging out together at my house. Lloyd Birkby had always been a quiet lad – unassuming and very polite – and Levi had been going out with him for a few weeks now. As a single mum, I had my hands full with Levi, Milo, now 22, Cain, 20, Kyra, 18, and Kady, nine. But I’d always had a special bond with Levi. She was…

Later that day, Lloyd was arrested and charged with murder. It turns out, he’d fled the scene when an ambulance arrived – but CCTV footage would later show him lurking around, watching as paramedics worked on Levi. At a court hearing, I learned the awful truth. That night, Lloyd and Levi had got into a row. After some harsh words, Lloyd had thrown his mobile phone at Levi at close range, which struck her in the neck with such force that it knocked her unconscious. The blow had caused her main artery severe damage, causing her brain to haemorrhage, and leaving her fighting for her life. Paramedics had desperately tried to save her as she lay helpless and dying in the street – but it was no good. The haemorrhage…

When I was 11 years old, my teacher asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. ‘A housewife and mum,’ I replied, smiling. Whilst my fellow pupils laughed at me, my teacher looked stunned. ‘You need to do something more!’ she said. Being a housewife was never a career option in school. When my peers dreamed of working in offices, I fantasized having my own home to cook and clean, and my own family to care for. I connected with 1950s housewives and the likes of Doris Day. Only, the outside world made me feel very ashamed of my dreams. So, I squashed them and eventually followed the paths others intended for me. In 2008, I was working unhappily in an office in fulltime marketing. At the…