Author: Oana

#TalkPANTS with NSPCC

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If you know me at all, you know that I have for many years longed to make a difference in this world and have been actively and vocally advocating for change, especially when it comes to vulnerable children and adults. So, when last week, NSPCC approached me as a blogger and invited me to be part of their Underwear rule campaign, I felt hugely privileged to be allowed to use my public voice to raise awareness about such a sensitive topic like keeping children safe from sexual abuse. I will start this post by saying that as a young girl raised in communist Romania, I consider myself extremely lucky to have had two very near sexual abuse misses. One occurred one hot summer day, when I was visiting my mum in the hospital where she worked. I don’t know where my brother was that time, we usually did everything together and I am sure, his presence acted as a safety shield many times from sexual predators. But this time, he wasn’t there, my mum’s work …

Silence

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I sat there, in silence, remembering the silence we shared two summers ago. When you were only a grain, in my pregnant belly. I sat there, willing my memory To go back and find you there, A squirming little life, Full of promise and joy. I sat there, in silence and I remembered the times, we shared, just you and me. Those dark nights at home, when your little bones were sore. Those long days on the ICU ward, with only each other and the beeping machines pumping chemo into your tiny frame as company. I sat there, with my precious memories of you, sweet baby boy, feeling you close, so very close to my very bruised heart. I sat there, in silence, and for a split moment in time, our love managed to transcend death and space and time, and we were together, once again.

House of Fraser: A Review

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When House of Fraser approaches us for a second time with the opportunity to review some of the children’s toys on their website, I jumped for joy. We first worked with House of Fraser at Christmas, when the toys’ section was launched on the website and we had loads of fun creating our Fraser Bear snow story. We knew they would be reliable, prompt in delivering the toys and very courteous, just like they were at Christmas. Who in their right mind would not like to work with such a lovely company! We were allowed to choose and we were sent the most wonderful Disney Lego, of Rapunzel and her tall tower, to Emma’s complete delight! We were getting ready to leave for Greece and we made it clear that our review would be written from abroad. The lovely people in charge of PR still agreed to send it to us, all in good time and with tracked mail too, to ensure safe arrival. Emma is five and a half and as any child with no …

When grief falls like a hammer

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I have been doing well. As well as a bereaved mother can be doing, shortly after such an important milestone, as Georgie’s death first anniversary. But grief is a wheel which keeps turning and keeps mauling your soul, over and over and over again. I know that talking about Georgie’s life helps other parents, finding themselves in the same horrific situation we have, a year and 30 days ago. I have been receiving messages from people all over the world. And Georgie’s story has been recently published by a women’s magazine in Romania, and I had the absolute honour to introduce my baby boy to a Romanian audience of caring new mothers. But the crust has been ripped off the wounds, once again. I have been waking up frequently during the night, tormented by the same questions. Why my boy? Why like this? Why was he allowed to cross the threshold of existence only to know excruciating pain? Why, Lord, oh, why? I have learned to live with the pain. I have learned to cope …

Living la vita bella

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We have been living what for most people in cold countries is perceived as “the dream” for three years. Slightly by accident, as most things happen with us, three and a half years ago, after an unsuccessful  stint of trying to live in Greece, we decided to return back to Northern Ireland. But not before we made the decision that we liked Greece as a holiday location and we secured a place where we could return every year. How were we able to do that? We were “lucky”, as the financial crisis had already hit the country and the rental properties were hard to let out and, in consequence, much cheaper than they had been. We moved our furniture from the house from which we had tried to made a home into a much smaller and cosier apartment in the vicinity and locked it for the next 9 months. At 350 euro per month (approximately £250), we realised that it was quite the intelligent solution for making our dream of hot summers possible. According to …