When I was a teenager I kept myself back in order to let my parents devote their energy to my sister and not to me. That’s why I had sometimes the feeling that I could not fulfill myself and that I had not enough room. Even when her screams would get me mad I did not say anything even when her tears would expel me I remained silent. It is hard to complain about our...read more→

Living in a home where drugs, criminality, violence and mental health disorders are commonplace can feel like a rollercoaster ride that doesn’t stop. It gets faster and faster with each year that passes and tempting as it sometimes is, jumping off, you think, will end with serious injuries, maybe even death! Regardless, jumping off would mean leaving everyone in the family, not just the one, who in some way or other, seems to be responsible...read more→

When the world outside has gone quiet Perhaps if I just lie here everything will be fine. Perhaps If I just lie here quietly, maybe just maybe, nothing will happen. Perhaps my mind will stop spinning endlessly, perhaps I can trick my mind; my racing thoughts, that I am still sleeping. Perhaps my body will relax and not be so stressed. The world demands so much from me. To be and to act like everyone...read more→

I was 20 when my mother had a brain stoke while riding her bicycle, broke her hip and was blood transfused, during an orthopaedic surgery,  with infected blood. She got Hepatitis C, which was the cause of her death, 19 years after the day of the brain stroke. I was informed about the stroke while phoning home from a public telephone (there were no mob phones at that time) to tell my parents that I...read more→

When my mother's relatively routine spinal surgery went wrong nearly seventeen years ago, leaving her in chronic pain and unable to work, my brother gave up his life as he knew it. We call him "the sacrificial lamb." Like Jesus Christ before him, my older brother laid down his entire life at the feet of the people he loves. At 18 years old, my brother was entering his sophomore year in college. He was doing...read more→

I am in the bathroom. It’s a busy morning and I’ve not had much sleep. I am 14 years old and it’s important to me to look good. My Mum bangs on the door, complaining that I am using too much time. I let her in and continue putting on my makeup. Mum takes off her work clothes after her shift at the cleaning company, changing into her uniform for her next job at the...read more→

My name is Amy and I am fifteen years old. I’m sat on the floor in my room trying to revise for my exams which are next week. Suddenly I hear my mum calling from the bathroom. I wiggle open the old lock on the door and find her sat on the floor feeling a bit unwell and a little upset. I think quickly about what would make me feel better in her situation and...read more→