Author: Mitsuko Nagasaki

On the Margins of Me-Time Not long ago, a friend of mine came over for tea. As we sat in the kitchen

My mum and my sister only ever saw me as a cash machinethey never really bothered to get to know me.

**Diary Entry** They didnt hesitatejust set the box of kittens out on the pavement. Biscuit followed

Ill never forget the day I found a crying baby in a pram outside my neighbour Lucys front door.

An elderly man had to make the heartbreaking decision to put his dog down because he couldnt afford the

**Diary Entry** Mum, Edward spoke softly when we were alone in the kitchen, Ive been thinking for a while

When the roar of the Jaguars engine finally vanished among the trees, the silence settled over me like

“Come with me! Ive got no dog in the yard right now. Youll make a good guardI wont let you down!”

“Didn’t Want to Marry Mum Made Me” “Tom, will you look after Billy?”

We had high hopes that my mother would retire, move to the countryside, and leave her three-bedroom flat