Waving Goodbye.

Today I left my astonishing, compassionate and beautiful daughter in a town 130 miles away from home, in a strange town, with strange people, so that she can learn new things and get all clever and come home with a degree. And right this minute all I can think of is that her room is empty and the cat misses her and there is less "stuff" all over the house and I feel lonely. She is destined for great things, as, I firmly believe, are all of our young feminist children.

About My Daughter: If you feel lonely, she will hold your hand. If you are frightened, she will stand behind you, holding you up, or in front of you, guarding you. If you are hungry, she'll give you her food. You may absolutely always no-matter-what count on her.

But it's her first night living away from home. I hope she's okay. I hope she's not missing me. I hope I feel better than this tomorrow.

Happy.

This just makes me all kinds of delighted! I think it's about time we all started shouting about civil partnerships vs. marriage; separate but equal isn't fucking good enough. What an awesome dad!

Cancer. And What it Sometimes Means.

One of my friends is about to lose her husband of forty years to cancer. They found the tumour seven days ago and it will kill him very soon. There isn't any treatment other than pain relief. Another of my friends will shortly begin more chemo for metastatic breast cancer. I can't imagine the horror that any of the people involved will be feeling. I just feel numb. And sick. And a bit tearful. And very, very grateful for all that I have right now, this very minute.