The first was ‘Alex: A life fast forward’. A film about a vibrant,happy young man who was diagnosed with terminal bone cancer at the age of 17 . He lived life to the full,he was happy, energetic,funny and he had that wonderful attitude that manifested itself as if his glass was half full.He found love and at the age of 22 he married Ali. Five days later ,he died. He was truly inspirational. Of course it was very sad , yet also uplifting. Rosie died suddenly, no -one saw it coming, but she now is my inspiration.Life has to be positive, fullfilled and good.No-one likes a whinger ( is that how you spell it – it looks wrong ? ).
The second was ”Small Teen,Bigger World” a programme that follows the life of 16 year old Jasmine, who like her mother ,has restricted growth . She is 3’11” tall , an inch taller than her mother.My sister Jane was one inch taller than her. Like Alex, Jasmine too is inspirational. Her sister was interviewed and she told how although she was younger than Jasmine , she soon grew much taller than her and helped to protect her. My memories came flooding back…esp. the nightmare of being made to do ballet at Miss Kimber’s Saturday morning class ( I wanted to be in the woods with Jonathan Arno ) as Jane wanted to do it, so ma sent me with her .Jane was always in the front row, and Mum and dad were so embarrassed at the shows , when I would stand in the back,arms folded, sulking ( it didn’t help that Miss K made me wear a felt hat with plastic flowers sticking out the top ), while Jane curtseyed like crazy and grinned at the audience. But honestly i don’t resent a secong of it .I proud to say Jane was happy, outgoing and never bullied and her restricted height never stopped her doing anything ( except for getting the washing in ).