This week I’m back to a straight list.

1. The NHS
2. Ma, who is always great but has gone above and beyond in the last 5 weeks
3. Ben, for taking me to the hospital
4. Oli, who took one look at me on Saturday and said “You’ve only got one hand”
5. Food to eat
6. All the people who’ve called and been in touch over the last five weeks
7. Books
8. BBC iplayer and the BBC in general
9. The Library
10. Radio 4 and especially In Our Time
11. Public Transport because I’m going no-where in the next couple of weeks without using a bus!
12. The ability of the body (mine in particular) to heal.
13. Central heating, it’s gotten chilly recently
14. A job that I can be away from for 6 weeks
15. Which leads directly on to unions because without them no sick pay
16. Georgette  Heyer novels
17. The ability to shower by myself
18. Chocolate
19. Gin and Tonic

I try as a general rule to be grateful for my life, it’s not perfect or charmed but I am luckier than a lot of people just because of where I was born and it’s important to remember that. This week in particular I’ve been contemplating how quickly but foot seems to be healing, it’s amazing given what it’s been through!

The ability to heal physically and mentally, is something I’m really grateful for this week. There was a time in the not too distant past when I really felt as though my life was cursed by a bad fairy and it was really difficult to take any joy from any aspect of my life. I got better though. I didn’t do it all by myself (and I’m thankful to the people who stuck with me when I was depressed) but the biggest piece of it, accepting that life was not terrible and I was not doomed, I did do by myself. I’m proud of that, of moving forward and through before I really understood or felt that it would get better.

So what I’m grateful for this week, is that we get better. We heal and we move on.