Ten

Ten

Bridgend, South Wales. 23rd April 2023. Dear Ziggy, Now you are 10. A decade. I find myself experiencing a particularly curious sensation of being able to distinctly recall exactly where I was at this point ten years ago, almost down to the minute. It is like standing...
Nine

Nine

Bridgend, South Wales. 23rd April 2022 Dear Ziggy, Today you are nine. Should be nine. Would have been nine. Tenses are hard. Another year has passed by like a gust of wind and the world seemingly spins further into chaos as the pandemic sputters on, while war creeps...
Nine

Seven

Bridgend, South Wales. 23rd April, 2020  Dear Ziggy, You should be seven today. Seven. A magic number. I still can’t picture you now. You’re a back that is always turned, a glimpse of dark hair and a slight frame moving just out of view. A ghost. The world has turned...
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

The embers of the decade are growing cool as we head into the twenties. I’m always reflective around this time of year but the inevitable talk of the end of the decade and the fact it is also the end of my fourth has dialled this up. Rollercoaster doesn’t really cut...
Nine

Six

Bridgend, South Wales 23rd April, 2019 Dear Ziggy, This year I find myself uncertain what to write to you. You should be six. You are six? We try every year to make this time quiet for us so we can reflect, think about you and – in some way – feel like...
Nine

Five

Bridgend, South Wales 23rd April 2018 Dear Ziggy, You should be five today. We should be putting balloons on the doors, making a cake and inviting your friends round for a party and bemoaning the fact your birthday is on a Monday this year. I should be telling your...