Four for Forty: 2000s



Somehow the noughties began with us walking home along the Embankment in London at 4am on the morning of the new Millennium in evening dress, and ended with us living in a desert thousands of miles from everyone and everything we knew and loved. How did that happen? The entire decade is a bit of a blur, come to think of it - not for any terribly exotic reason, just because it was really busy. The pilot decided he was going to be a pilot, we sold our home so that he could train in Spain. We travelled round the world, lived overseas, had two children while he built up his flying hours. Meanwhile, I worked as a travel writer, set up an art consultancy, started writing a novel and ... and the whole trip felt like I was a passenger on a rollercoaster, (trying desperately not to let the children, cats, hamsters and hounds fall out of their seats along the way). There have been great highs, and some terrible lows. But that's life, and the rollercoaster is still riding. How about you?

TODAY'S PROMPT: I remember an old friend said 'oh, your thirties are a *breeze*, the kids, the house, you feel really settled for the first time ...' Not my experience at all. A calculated gamble made ten years ago changed the course of our life. With children, you become very much the frame, not the picture, I've learnt - everything changes. The stakes are higher. Today, why not reflect on what the last decade taught you - what did you learn? What surprised you? What did you/didn't you risk? Write a stream of consciousness - what have you seen, loved, lost in the last ten years - what has been your journey? Enjoy the ride x