Patricia M Osborne

It was more than seven years ago when my mum first became debilitated with her terminal illness. Through that time I would tell her ‘Little Steps.’ Unfortunately my Mum died in June last year but since I had my accident in Bucharest I’ve heard those words as if she was with me. For the last ten days I’ve had an insight into what it must have been like in Mum’s world. Relying on other people to do things, feeling helpless and inadequate. Although through the seven year period there were times she was able to manage things herself, through little steps. I empathised with Mum as I was being pushed around Bucharest Airport where I could only see waist level. Luckily for me, my disablement is temporary and hopefully by the end of April, beginning of May I will be back in tip top form again. But in the meantime, I’ll be hearing those words ‘Little Steps,’ and take heed from them as I work myself back to recovery.

The last couple of days I’ve been working on a poem about my experience of the operating theatre in Bucharest and contemplating writing a play about the whole experience. I don’t know, the lengths some writers will go to get research and I obviously must be one of them.

So for now I’m signing out with Little Steps…