Michael Rosen, the author, gave the prompt for today’s 64 Million Artists’ The January Challenge. He said to write a poem about your earliest memory. I don’t think that this is my earliest, but definitely one of them. I was 3 years old when this happened.
The thoracic vertebrae sit in the middle of your spine between the cervical (neck) and lumbar. There are 12 thoracic vertebrae and they are the only ones to support ribs. They are labelled T1 to T12.
I have metastatic breast cancer in my T3, which sits between my shoulder blades.
This is my first attempt at drawing a realistic vertebrae, so it definitely isn’t perfect. This is one without cancer. I don’t know what my one looks like exactly: a little growth somewhere in there.
80% of spinal cancers are secondary, ie they originated in a different part of the body, and are therefore terminal.
I also have a cancer in the cervical vertabrae, C7, which sits at the base of the neck. It is also called vertebra prominens. There are 7 cervical vertebrae.
C7 controls the movement of the head and is closely linked to the use of arms and hands; although leg movement can also be affected if it is damaged. Serious damage to C7 can cause paralysis.
Cancer can grow in different parts of your vertebrae.
“Intradural-extramedullary tumor:
This type of tumor is located inside the thin covering of your spinal cord (dura) but outside of your actual spinal cord. Approximately 40% of all spinal tumors are in this area.
Intramedullary tumor:
This type of tumor grows inside of your spinal cord. Approximately 5% of all spinal tumors are in this area.
Extradural tumor:
This type of tumor is located outside your dura (the thin covering surrounding your spinal cord), which includes your vertebrae (the bones that form your spine). Approximately 55% of spinal tumors are in this area.”
was morning, and Autumn the fox and Fluffy the hedgehog were sitting at the kitchen table, doing homeschooling.
“I just want to go back to normal,” Autumn sighed, “I miss all of our friends at school.”
“I miss them too,” agreed Fluffy, “and Mrs Badger too.”
The friends were learning maths, and it was tricky. Mr Hedgehog was trying to teach them, but he was a firefighter not a teacher.
“Just write 8,” huffed Mr Hedgehog.
“But how did you get the answer 8?” asked Autumn.
“I can’t explain, but the answer is 8,” he sighed.
Mr Hedgehog was brave and kind and an excellent firefighter, but he did not like maths.
“Can we have a break please Daddy? My brain hurts,” asked Fluffy.
“No, you can’t. Finish your maths first,” replied Mr Hedgehog.
“But we don’t understand it!” said Autumn.
She burst into tears and ran to her bedroom. She hated homeschooling and she hated lockdown. She lay down on her bed and cried.
Mr Hedgehog was sad. He didn’t mean to upset Autumn.
“I will go and have a chat with Autumn,” he said to his son Fluffy, “I know that you are both struggling with being at home all of the time.”
“I have a better idea, who don’t you make us both a hot chocolate, and bring it upstairs in a few minutes? I am going to do something to cheer Autumn up,” said the little hedgehog.
“Ok, that sounds like a good plan.”
So Fluffy got out the things that he needed for the surprise for his friend.
After a few minutes, he was finished.
“Ok Dad, are the hot chocolates ready?” He asked.
“Yes,” replied Mr Hedgehog, “with extra marshmallows.”
The two hedgehogs walked up the stairs to Autumn’s bedroom. She was still on her bed.
“I am sorry that you are sad,” said Fluffy, sitting down on the bed with the gift, “I made you something to cheer you up.”
Autumn sat up, wiping the tears from her furry cheeks.
“You got me something?” She sniffed.
“Well, I made you something.” He handed the gift to Autumn.
Mr Hedgehog put the hot chocolates onto the bedside table.
“Thank you,” said Autumn.
Autumn looked at the gift that Fluffy had made her.
“It’s a drawing of us!” She laughed, “thank you Fluffy, it’s lovely.” She gave her friend a big hug.
“You’re welcome,” smiled Fluffy.
“Look, we are in the forest where we met the sleeping bear last year,” said Autumn.
Autumn felt happy that her friend Fluffy was so kind and had made her a gift. Fluffy felt pleased that he had cheered up his friend.
After their drinks, the friends went back downstairs to finish their maths. Mr Hedgehog showed them a video about the work that they were learning, which helped them to understand.
That evening they uploaded a photo of Fluffy’s drawing for Mrs Badger to see.
“Well done, you have been kind to your friend,” wrote Mrs Badger, “two house points to Fluffy.”
Fluffy felt proud of himself. It was good to be kind.
It was 7 days until Christmas, and Leila was extremely excited. She loved Christmas. She loved the presents, she loved the crafts, but most of all she loved having all of her family together and eating too much.
Leila’s Mummy and Daddy had put up the Christmas tree, and Leila and Mummy were making some more decorations for it. They had already made some paper snowflakes and painted some wooden cutouts of the Nativity scene. Now they were working on baubles. These were no ordinary baubles though: they had little photos of their family members inside them. Mummy was cutting out the photographs and Leila was adding decorations like small sparkly stars and glitter, to make them look snowy. It was quite messy.
“Oops!” Leila cried as a pile of glitter landed on the floor. “Sorry Mummy.”
“Oh dear, not again.” Sighed Mummy, reaching for the dust pan and brush for the third time that morning.
“Glitter is quite messy, isn’t it?” Mummy asked.
“Definitely.” Agreed Leila.
Leila was filling up a bauble with a picture of her Gran and Grandad in it. They had big smiles. She put in extra glitter because she loved them very much.
“Mummy, I wish that Arlo could be with us this Christmas.” She said.
“Me too!” Agreed Mummy, reaching over to give Leila a hug.
“I really miss him.”
“So do Daddy and I. We think about him every day.” Replied Mummy.
“How old would Arlo be now, of he was still alive?” Asked Leila.
“He would be 2 now. Just imagine, he would be getting his fingers in the glitter, and pulling the baubles off the tree!” Answered Mummy.
“Yeah, I think that he would be very cute, but also a mischief.”
“I think so too.” Agreed Mummy.
“Look, here is a photo of you holding Arlo when he was very little. Shall we make this into a special memory bauble?”
“Yes please. I think that it will be the best bauble ever.” Said Leila.
They had some tiny heart stickers, which Leila added to the outside of the bauble to show that it was an extra special one.
When it was finished, Leila held the bauble in her hand and smiled.
“It’s beautiful.” Said Mummy. “Sometimes I feel sad when I think that Arlo is missing out on Christmas.” Admitted Leila.
“Me too darling. But we will always remember him and always love him, won’t we? Do you remember that time that he weed all over Daddy when he changed his nappy?”
“Oh yes, that was hilarious!” Laughed Leila.
Mummy and Leila hung all of the baubles onto the Christmas tree. They all looked good, but the one of Leila and her little brother was especially lovely. A ray of sunshine came in through the window and made it sparkle. Mummy and Leila looked at each other and smiled.
“It’s like he’s saying hello.”
…
Christmas can be a difficult time for bereaved people. If you have been affected by baby or child loss, here are some places that offer support.
The crow at the top of the chestnut tree Cawed twice mournfully. He cawed in fog He cawed in rain He cawed in hope He cawed in pain. He cawed for friends he would never see again.
He remembered playing in the sun He remembered flying through the snow. Memories treasured in the Heart of a little black crow.
Autumn was a fox. She lived in Swindon with her friend Fluffy the hedgehog.
They loved playing in the forest, especially in Autumn when they could collect conkers and stamp in the crunchy leaves.
One morning, Fluffy and Autumn set out on Autumn’s tricycle to the forest. Fluffy sat in the basket, cosy in a blanket that Autumn’s Granny had knitted.
Just as they got to the forest, they ride over a sharp stone and the trike got a puncture.
“Oh no!” Cried Autumn. “How will be get back home now? It’s such a long way home, with lots of hills.”
“Yes, it will be very tiring walking the trike back, and carrying me!” Sighed Fluffy.
“Oh well, let’s just play for now anyway. We will worry about getting home later. Luckily I brought some snacks to keep us going.” Said Autumn.
So the friends left the tricycle by a tree and went into the forest. They stomped on crunchy leaves, played hide and seek and collected paw-fuls of conkers.
Fluffy dropped one of the conkers, and it rolled down the hill into a dark cave. He ran after it, straight into a big brown bear!
“Who woke me up?” Grumbled the bear. “I was sleeping.”
His tummy rumbled loudly in the cave. It sounded like thunder.
“Oh, I’m so hungry.” He said. “I can’t find my favourite blackberries this year, and now I have naughty mice waking me up.”
“I’m so sorry to wake you, it was my conker. And I’m not a mouse. I’m a hedgehog.” Replied Fluffy.
“And I am a fox.” Added Autumn.
“Are you? My eyes are so bad these days. Now get out of my cave. I don’t feel so hungry when I’m asleep.”
“So sorry to disturb you, Mr Bear,” said Fluffy. “We will go now.”
The bear followed them out of his cave, to make sure that they really were going. He felt tired and hungry, and didn’t have any patience for young animals.
And the two friends scampered out of the cave as quickly as they could. They were so scared that they ran up a nearby tree and hid in a hole.
“That was frightening!” Trembled Fluffy.
“Yes, I am shaking all over.” Agreed Autumn.
Suddenly a voice from just behind them made them jump.
“What are you doing in my tree? Get out! I am sleepy and cold.”
Fluffy and Autumn turned around to see who was talking. It was an owl.
“We are sorry, we didn’t know this was your house. We were hiding from a bear.” Said Autumn.
“Oh that would be Brownie. He is very grumpy. Now leave me to sleep. Brr, isn’t is chilly?”
The friends climbed carefully down the tree and went back to the trike. In its basket, underneath the blanket, were some snacks which they enjoyed. Fluffy slurped up some slimy slugs, while Autumn chomped on a chicken sandwich.
“Phew, what a busy day.” Said Fluffy.
Autumn looked at the cosy blanket in the basket. She had a thought.
“Maybe we should give the blanket to the cold owl as a way of saying sorry for waking her up. I know that Granny would be happy to knit me another one.” She said.
“Ok that’s a good idea.” Said Fluffy. “My mum says we should always try to be kind.”
So the friends took the blanket to the owl as a gift.
“Thank you so much!” Smiled the owl. “Now I will be nice and warm. People aren’t usually kind to me. Is there anything nice that I can do for you in return?” She asked.
Fluffy had an idea.
“Well,” he said, “Brownie bear is extremely hungry because he can’t see well enough to find any blackberries to eat. I know that owls can see really well…”
“Yes we can.” Replied the owl.
“So I was wondering if you might be able to find the blackberry bush,show us where it is, and we could take some berries round to Brownie’s cave.”
“Hmm, well I don’t usually go out in the daytime, but I suppose that I could, just this once.” Said the owl.
She she showed the friends where the best blackberry bush was. Fluffy and Autumn collected as many berries as they could in the basket. They took them to Brownie in his cave. Autumn quietly set the basket down in the bear’s cave and started to tiptoe away.
But Brownie had excellent hearing, and woke up.
“Not you again!” He sighed. “Why do you keep waking me up?”
His tummy growled loudly.
“We just brought you some berries,” replied Autumn. “We didn’t want you to go hungry.”
“How did you find these lovely berries?” Asked Brownie. “I have looked everywhere in the forest for the this year. But I just couldn’t see well enough to find them!”
“The owl showed us where they were.” Said Autumn.
“Oh, that would be Olivia. She doesn’t usually help others. She is a bit grumpy.” Said the bear.
“We gave her a cosy blanket,” answered Fluffy. “That warmed her up so she wanted to do us a favour.”
“And you chose to help me?” Asked Brownie, looking surprised. “Creatures aren’t usually nice to me. They just run away. I am not sure why.”
“My dad always says to try to be kind to others.” Answered Autumn.
“Thank you so much!” Replied the bear gratefully. A happy tear rolled down his furry face.
He ate the whole basket full of blackberries surprisingly quickly.
“I would like to be kind too. Can I help you with anything?” He asked.
“Actually, my trike got a puncture earlier… would you mind giving us a lift home? We would be awfully grateful. There are so many hills, you see.” Asked Autumn shyly.
“What, you expect me to leave my cosy cave, walk out of the forest, and carry you too and your trike all the way home?” He asked in a gruff voice.
“Y… yes p.. please.” Stuttered Autumn.
“Of course I will. You two are very kind friends!” Brownie smiled.
So he helped Autumn and Fluffy to climb onto his back, and picked up the trike.
“Hold tight!” He said, as he walked them home: out of the forest, over the hills, and back to their house in Fox Close in Swindon.
They did get a few funny looks from the neighbours. They had never seen a bear in their road before!
“Thank you so much.” Said Fluffy and Autumn, as they waved their new friend Brownie goodbye.
“What an adventurous day!” Laughed Fluffy. “Let’s ask my mum for some hot chocolate. I think we have earned it.”
The End.
….
My daughter Bethany and I wrote this story together one chilly Autumn morning. She did the illustrations too.
It’s fun writing a story with your child with some simple steps:
Name your main character/s and think about how they look, and some things they like. This can be a hobby or favourite food.
What is the setting? Where does the story take place? It can be a home, school or up a mountain. Let your child come up with as many ideas as they can.
What goes wrong? There is usually a baddie, danger or problem to overcome in a story. It doesn’t have to be anything that will scare your child, keep it age appropriate.
How is the baddie taught a lesson, danger faced and overcome or problem fixed? Ask your child for ideas, and you can narrow them down. It doesn’t have to be realistic. 🙂
Are there any things that you would like to talk about? There doesn’t need to be a moral though, and a story can just be fun or silly. But in this one, I decided to focus in being kind. It could be something simple like sharing toys, or more serious like facing grief.
Your child can do the writing if old enough, or you can do it. Remember to keep asking them what they think happens next, what the main character would say if that happened, etc. Let them input their ideas as much as possible while keeping to the storyline.
Have fun! 🙂
Encourage your child to do some drawings, because art is fabulous. It also improves their fine motor skills.
For more resources and ideas on encouraging children of all ages to read and write in a fun way, see the National Literacy Trust’s website:
There was an old man who had a strange pet. It was a lawnmower which he named Fred. Its tail was a cable, its colour red. He took it with him everywhere he went, He walked him to the local duck pond, Where the ducks took fright at such an odd sight. When Fred was poorly, took it to the vet, Who was not pleased to see the mower On her consultation table that day. She was more used to rabbits, dogs and cats. She said the old man should see his GP, But perhaps leave the lawnmower at home. The old man replied “No!” And that was that.
The old man loved Fred, who loved him too. They lived happily in a ground floor flat.
Just another blog 