What Matters

Two days ago I was more frightened that I can ever remember being in my life. I was with my Dad at the care home where he is living. He had not been feeling well all day due to an allergy he had developed suddenly. He asked my mother and me to help him get to the bathroom, and as we did so, he lost consciousness, his body went completely weak and he collapsed.

I thought he was going to die in my arms. Without being a doctor I had no idea what had happened. All I could see was that he was drifting away from us. I was shouting for help and it took a few minutes for anyone to come - it felt like three hours.

All I could say was " I love you Dad.." because at that moment I thought that these would be the last words I would ever be able to say to him. My mother was praying. The nurses called for an ambulance and the paramedics arrived. It is very rare that I panic about something, but in this situation I was anything but calm. I was scared.

In the end it turned out that my Dad's fainting was probably just due to low blood pressure - certainly not the heart attack or stroke I had feared. Obviously this was good news, but that does not change the very real feelings that we all felt at the time. For those few minutes when we all thought that the end had come for my Dad, we automatically turned to what is really important to each of us. Love, family and the hope that there is a higher power.

There was no thought at that moment about whether it was raining outside, whether the place was tidy, whether our clothes had been ironed or how much money anyone had, or didn't have. None of that mattered   In the end, what matters is appreciating life and being with the people you love, on the bad days as well as the good. All the rest is secondary.

For me, this was one of those moments that I will never forget. But just one day later, my parents' memory loss meant that they had both forgotten (literally) all about it! As though the whole thing never happened. So I guess it all turned out well in the end. Neither my Mum nor my Dad has a traumatic memory to deal with, and I have learnt some lessons that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

 

Feel Good Music List

Somero today. Minus seven degrees. Wind. And worst of all....MORE snow. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

You can deal with snow in November because it's the start of winter and it's pretty. Snow in December is fine because it's Christmas. You can't escape snow in January because it's still the middle of winter so that's ok. Snow in February means skiing competitions and enjoying winter sports so we can forgive it.

Good music makes you feel like this...

But snow in March is NOT ok. Snow in March means that this is the fifth month of it. And just as we get our hopes up and it starts melting and falling off the rooves then it starts all over again. That is not ok. It is too much snow and it is time to stop.

So. We need some music to being some warmth to this never-ending winter. My lovely friend Eve Mantu posted today on Facebook that she was listening to Abba to make her feel better, and I would love to hear your suggestions for other music you play when you need some inspiration, or you want to simply forget the weather outside.

My current feelgood favourite is "Yo Vengo de Cuba" (Salsa version) By FClan Band.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMAk3HgjjvE

So tell me, what's yours? Let's create a feelgood music list to fight the winter blues away....

OUR FEELGOOD MUSIC LIST

Rock Paper Scissors - Katzenjammer
Lovely Day - Bill Withers                                        (DJ Mikeb)
Calcutta - Dr Bombay                                              (Lucie)
Pencil Full of Lead - Paolo Nutini                           (Christina Tolvas-Vincent)
Dancing Queen - Abba                                             (Eve Mantu)
Anything by the Beach Boys                                    (Neil M)
Don't You Worry Child -Swedish House Mafia       (Tiana, 3 weeks)
Troublemaker - Olly Murs                                       (Saskia)
Where is the Man -Timo Lassy Band                       (Marja-Leena)
Moondance - Nightwish                                            (Katri)

Somero Library Writing Competition

If you ask anyone in Somero what they like about living in this town, I can almost guarantee that at some point they will mention the library.

We are very lucky here to have a great library in the centre of town. It is in a beautiful modern building and very well stocked, especially for a town which isn't huge after all.

And there is something special about the atmosphere. I love being around books pretty much anywhere, and I love libraries. But this one has something extra. I've tried to think of the right adjective for it - and the one that comes to mind (even though it might seem a bit odd) is "warm". Somero library is a warm place. And I am not talking about the heating.  It's a place in which you feel welcome, which makes you want to read, and a place where it feels comfortable to stay.



Eija Kopponen and Outi Junell

Eija, Cameron, Anniina, Karoliina, Outi and Arsi

Anyway, this evening we were invited to attend an exciting event there. Earlier in the year a competition was announced to all children in the Somero's 5th and 6th forms to write an adventure story, and a week ago I received a call to say that Cameron was lucky enough to have been chosen as one of the runners up. Outi Junell and Eija Kopponen were our hosts for the evening and it was lovely to see their genuine enthusiasm in encouraging children to write stories. The animated way in which Outi reads a story brings it to life and makes you want to pick up a pen and start writing one of your own.

Eighty-one entries were received in total and this evening the results were announced. The overall winner was Karoliina Andersson with her excellent story called "Täysikuu" (Full Moon). Anniina Vääri was the winner of one of the runner up prizes, and Cameron was the other.

The stories had been displayed over the past few weeks and visitors to the library had been invited to vote for their favourite entry. The winner of the public vote was Arsi Virta.

All the prizewinners were invited to choose a prize book, and special thanks were given to Maarit Laurento from Joensuu School for coming up with the idea in the first place.

Cameron with his prize book - about wizards, obviously.

I love writing. Obviously. Like some people love cooking or gardening or knitting socks. I like words and trying to put them together. I think you know when you love something because you do it even when you are tired and on the days when you don't have to. And in these days of text messages and emails and facebook, where everything is so temporary - I can't think of anything better than something which encourages children to use their imaginations and use real words and ideas and put them together on paper.

Well done Somero library for this competition, and to every child who had the enthusiasm and patience to enter it. And thank you Somero library for what you do for us every day. You are one of the town's greatest resources and on behalf of all the people I have spoken to in the town, I hope all of you who work there know how very much you are valued.

And one last thing....never forget to keep writing! It's what libraries are made of.