Chat -julkaisun 02-Jul-2020 -irtonumeron sisällysluettelo

Lesley Roberts, 55 Burying my face in my son’s jumper as he engulfed me in one of his famous bear hugs, I fought back tears. It was November 2016 and I’d lost count of how many times I’d had to kiss Alex, 22, goodbye. We’d just enjoyed a lovely family holiday to Gran Canaria. But now it was time for him to fly home to his life in Canada. Four years ago, he’d announced he was moving there for a gap year. At first, it was meant to be temporary. Only, it quickly became apparent Alex wasn’t coming home any time soon. I missed him desperately but he was happy, loved his flat, his fun group of friends. He spent his time off work skiing or snowboarding. ‘I love you,…

In the beginning, Neil White and Michelle Hord had a relationship that looked like it could go the distance. Although they were friends first, neither could deny the attraction between them. In 2002, after a decade of knowing each other, they officially became an item. They married in September 2007 before having their baby girl Gabrielle in August 2009. As Gabrielle started school, it became clear that she was full of potential. The little girl took up gymnastics, played football, loved baking cakes. But at home, things were far from perfect. Neil and Michelle’s marriage had begun to deteriorate. Anger issues A freelance journalist, Neil was out of work, and his wife was starting to fear his anger issues. So by October 2016, she’d had enough. ‘I want a divorce,’…

Suzanne Maguire, 54, Doncaster Lifting up the teapot, I felt sure my arm was about to give way. Strange, I thought, I must have done this move a million times. But for some reason, on that day in February 2002, my left arm just felt very weak. I didn’t think it was anything serious, though. Still, I mentioned it in passing to my then-husband. ‘Maybe you should get that checked out,’ he suggested. ‘Just in case.’ So I booked an appointment with my GP. And, just weeks later, he’d arranged a short stay in hospital for me. ‘We’re going to run some tests,’ doctors explained. Over the course of five days, I was back and forth for tests. They took blood daily, gave me a lumbar puncture, too. Even removed…

Simply send an 83p-stamped, self-addressed envelope to the address below to receive your free silver-plated belcher chain bracelet. At the same time, why not stock up on more pretty silver-plated bracelets for summer? They’re lovely worn singly, or layer them up and wear them together – or maybe you know someone else who’d appreciate a new accessory? Each bracelet costs just £5, or buy three or more and we’ll take £1 off, so they’re just £4 each! Well, everyone loves a bargain… How to claim your free bracelet Complete the coupon on the right and send it, together with a stamped, self-addressed envelope and any payment, to: LMS, Dept CHAT42, PO Box 998, Aylesbury HP22 9LE All applications must be received by Friday 7 August 2020. Only one free bracelet…

He’s not pulling his weight Q My wife’s son quit university and moved in before lockdown. We’ve been married three years and we all got on, until now. He’s in bed all day, leaves a mess and comes and goes at all hours. Before, we had a peaceful life and a clean home. My wife says he’ll stay as long as he wants and he’s just a kid. He’s 25! I’m working extra hours to cover the bills and can’t live like this. Can you help? Geoff, 53 A There must be mutual respect living together, whether he’s 5 or 55. Your wife’s being dismissive because that’s what us mums do. Have a family conversation, and soon. He may be going through his own issues. Ask for help with errands, make…

Continued from previous page The operations marked the beginning of a new chapter in my life. I could barely speak or eat, let alone crack a smile. And the mobility issues meant I was largely reliant on a wheelchair. After a course of antibiotic treatment, I was finally discharged from hospital in April 2014. But I was no longer the fiercely independent woman I’d been before. ‘It’s OK, we’ll get through this,’ my sister Kerri, then 30, vowed as I moved in with her. I couldn’t wash myself, do my hair or cook meals. I felt weak and pathetic, a shadow of my former self. And while my physical disabilities got me down, my looks crushed me. Only leaving the house twice a week for hospital appointments and physiotherapy, I…

Tilisha Goupall, 28, Thornton Heath Running along the pier, playing in the arcades… I loved our annual beach trip. It was August 2017 and this day out was a family tradition. Just me, my dad Stanley, then 51, and my baby brother Jermaine, 15. Every summer, for as long as I could remember, we’d taken a day trip, this year it was to Weston-super-Mare. We both loved it – the chance to be carefree, act like kids again. And after a day of fun, Jermaine would always sleep the whole coach ride home to London. Snoring softly, using my shoulder as a pillow. See, me and Jermaine had always been close. When I was a kid, I’d been desperate for a younger brother or sister. So when Jermaine was born…

TEXT Simply text CHATB followed by a space and your answer/s (spaces between answers please) full name, door number and postcode to 84988 Texts cost 50p plus standard network charge (maximum 160 characters per text). When you enter by text, you may in future get SMS marketing messages from TI Media Limited and Chat. If you want to receive these, please end your text with TIOPTIN. Texting tips INTERNET Join our Chat Comp Club now and enter your puzzle answers directly online at our website address comps.lifedeathprizes.com/puzzles Existing puzzlesandprizes members may need to re-register, just click on the ‘Join now’ button once you are on the website. PHONE Simply call 0906 470 7001 For every call to our competition Lucky Line, we’ll donate 10p to The Brain Tumour…

Pepé Le Pew and Hank Hill are both examples of what type of character? The answer to each clue (apart from the first) begins with the last letter of the preceding answer. The shaded squares will spell out the prize puzzle answer. WIN £150 Puzzle 2 1 Board game (10) 2 Racket, din (5) 3 Mexican filled tortilla (9) 4 Counting frame (6) 5 Refuge, shelter (9) 6 _ Warder, Beefeater (6) 7 Barge (6,4) 8 Singing voice (5) 9 Second-largest city of the Netherlands (9) 10 Compulsory (9) 11 Children, youths (10) 12 Small packet containing salt or sugar (6) 13 Marine reptile with a shell (6) 14 Effortless (4) 15 Part of an egg (4) 16 Boarding establishments for dogs (7) Your answer:…

GEORGE at ASDA All sizes 8-24 STYLE TIP Elongate your silhouette with a V-neck, tie-waist belted jumpsuit. TU at SAINSBURY’S All sizes 8-22 STYLE TIP Update your denim collection with colour. Pair it with neutral tones for a chic look. NUTMEG at MORRISONS All sizes 8-24 STYLE TIP Wear a playsuit with trainers for dressed-down comfort. F&F at TESCO All sizes 6-22 STYLE TIP Colourful accessories are an easy way to add some fun and jazz up simple outfits. WE WANT YOU! WE’RE LOOKING FOR WOMEN JUST LIKE YOU TO APPEAR IN OUR MAGAZINES EVERYONE’S WELCOME, SO APPLY TODAY! go to goodtoknow.co.uk/REAL to find out more details.…

In July 2019, after just five hours of deliberation, the jury found Neil White guilty of the seconddegree murder of his daughter Gabrielle. White’s defence team asked for a minimum sentence as he had no criminal record and there was an absence of physical evidence tying White to the crime. However, Judge George Fufidio handed him the maximum sentence, 25 years in jail. He said that White’s actions were ‘incomprehensible, callous and cowardly’. The little girl’s mother, Michelle Hord, gave a powerful speech after the sentence had been handed out. Holding her daughter’s doll, she described the two years that she’d endured since Gabrielle’s murder. ‘My heart and soul have been ripped from my body by this man,’ she said. But, despite his lengthy sentence, the defence said that White plans…

World health According to a survey by Calm, the leading app for sleep and meditation, more than 56% of Brits don’t use any sleep aid to help them get more restful shut-eye – but just under one in 10 (9%) say they use a pillow spray or luxurious silk eye mask. Swap and see Swap your normal toothpaste for Smile Science Harley Street Vita White Professional Whitening Toothpaste, containing key vitamins A, B6 and C to nourish and boost healing in gums, control the build-up of bacteria and boost collagen production (£12.99, smile-science.co.uk). Is your roast really cooked? Do you check the colour of your chicken to decide if it’s done? According to a new study by the Norwegian Institute of Food, Fisheries and Aquaculture Research, this isn’t a good-enough indicator. In…

Nicole Louw, 32 Taking a deep breath, I pressed ‘Send’ on my Facebook update. Moments later, ‘likes’ streamed in and comments appeared. Good for you! So proud! It was August 2013, and I was finally telling the world my secret – I was a woman. You see, I was born into a male body. But even from a young age, I knew I wasn’t supposed to be Terrance, as Mum had christened me. Inside, I knew that I was female but, for years, I’d tried to suppress my true self. In my teens, I tried to be overly masculine, going out and getting into drunken fights, anything to appear manly. It was all an act. But it wasn’t until 2011, when I read rock star Laura Jane Grace’s biography, that…

Kayla Moyes, 24, Cardiff Looking through potential matches, one dating profile caught my eye. Sam, 24, likes hiking and the outdoors. It was November 2017, just three months since I had left Canada to study for my MBA at Cardiff University. Homesick, I’d turned to a dating app in the hope of meeting someone. ‘Cute!’ I said, examining the profile. Only, it wasn’t Sam I was looking at. Not my type at all, with a bad haircut and even worse fashion sense. Truth was, I was checking out his pug, Gary. He was the one who really caught my eye. Reminded me of how much I was missing my dog, cockapoo bichon Trixie, back home. I reasoned if I went on a date with Sam, I’d get to spend time…

With a shortage of nurses and the UK dealing with an unprecedented pandemic, the NHS is calling on the public to think about a career in nursing. The ‘We Are The NHS’ campaign, now in its second year, aims to inspire the next generation of nurses by highlighting the valuable and varied roles available. It also hopes to encourage nurses who have left the profession to return. The campaign has never been so important, with around one in 10 hospital nurses off sick with symptoms of the COVID-19 virus in April 2020. Two nurses tell Chat the personal reasons behind their career choice, and how they fell in love with their roles. ‘We’re one big family’ Tanya Forsdyke, 30, is an outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT) specialist nurse at Addenbrooke’s…

3 ways to… get the best deals online Pay less for the things you buy with these tips! 1 Shop around Always start by hunting for the best price. Try searching for the item you’re looking for on Google Shopping: it’ll search a wide range of retailers, listing the price each charges. It’s also worth checking other price comparison sites like Kelkoo (kelkoo.co.uk) and Price Spy (pricespy.co.uk). 2 Find discounts automatically Using voucher codes can cut the cost of your shopping, but it’s easy to forget to search for them. So try using Pouch (joinpouch.com), a free browser plugin that gathers voucher codes which can be used on the website you’re shopping on and notifies you about how much you can save. 3 Take your time Some retailers email customers discount codes…

There She Goes BBC2 The comedy returns with David Tennant and Jessica Hynes reprising their roles as parents Simon and Emily, whose daughter Rosie has learning disabilities. This second series follows the family 18 months on from the first. Penny Dreadful: City of Angels SKY ATLANTIC Look out for Game Of Thrones’ Natalie Dormer in this fantasy drama which is a spin-off from the horror series Penny Dreadful. Set in 1938 Los Angeles, the actor plays a dark, shapeshifting goddess, who appears as detectives investigate a grisly murder. Muppets Now DISNEY+ Kermit The Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo and the rest of the gang are making a comeback to TV in this new six-part series. Expect the same fun and silliness we know and love as well as a…

Q What are the best summer body hydrators? Leanne Gasbeau, 46 A What a difference warm weather makes. Suddenly that body butter you’ve been happily slathering on all year can feel uncomfortably heavy and claggy. Rich hydrators also play havoc with self-tan and can make applying SPF, to already overloaded skin, an unappealing prospect. There’s no need to skip moisturising altogether, just switch to a lighter lotion, like No7 Beautiful Skin Completely Quenched Body Milk, £11.50. It’s water based and sinks in quickly, leaving skin comfy and soft. Body mists are great, too, off ering light hydration and saving you time in the morning. We love E45 Daily Lotion Spray, £5.99, and Vaseline Intensive Care Spray Moisturiser, £6.45. Both are fun to spritz on and fill skin with moisture. TRIED AND TESTED…

Anyone from your town in the list this week..? £1,001 CASH C Williams, Walsall £1,000 CASH K Francis, Colchester £500 CASH J Abdy, Goole; C Weller, Plymouth £250 CASH C Ping, Market Rasen £150 CASHh B Hough, Selby £100 CASH M Pottinger, Reading; P Crow, Pontefract; L Cree, Ilkeston; E Senior, Durham; E Tinsley, Pudsey £60 CASH H Sloan, Denny £50 CASH L Tomlinson, Dereham; J Hindmarsh, Lincoln; A Polson, King’s Lynn £30 CASH L Radley, Leeds; P Morris, Chesterfield; L Williams, Newport; J Mooney, Bathgate; J Burnside, Spennymoor £25 CASH E Nicholson, Kendal; J Gibson, Clwyd; C Mooney, Huddersfield; K Bartlett, Solihull; J Jones, Clwyd; S Gabriel, Neath; D Spicer, Rayleigh; B Kenney, Leicester; S LeGrice, Hockley…

When my son Christian took his first steps, I thought of you. As he said his first word, you popped into my head. And when I send him off for his first day of school later this year, I’ll remember you then, too. See, without your help, I don’t know how I’d have got here… I was just 27 weeks pregnant, in July 2016, when I kept waking up wet. Staying with my parents, I turned to my mum Sue, 54, for help. ‘We’ll keep an eye on it,’ she soothed. But when I woke up with my pyjamas soaked, we rushed to New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton. I was told by doctors there was less than 1cm of fluid around my baby. ‘You’ll need to stay in the hospital,’…

Tugging at the bottom of his jumper, I glanced up at my mum’s new friend. ‘Hey, mister, it’s my birthday today,’ I said, smiling proudly. It was April 1978 and my 4th birthday. It was the first time I’d ever laid eyes on Arthur Ingram, then 28. He had floppy hair and towered over me. ‘Happy birthday,’ he smiled back. It turned out that this man was my mother’s new boyfriend. And it didn’t take long before his feet were firmly under the table. For the next four years, Arthur became like a dad to me. At weekends, he’d take me strawberry picking. We shared fun days out with his own kids from a previous relationship, too. And if I woke up after having a nightmare, he’d rush to my…

What is American actor Sarah Michelle Gellar’s favourite ‘scary’ movie? To find out, solve the crossword, then read down the shaded squares to find the prize puzzle answer. ACROSS 11 & 25 Down TV personality who hosted Big Brother and The Million Pound Drop (6,6) 12 Woodworker (9) 13 Coloured part of the eye (4) 14 Line that goes in a sloping direction (8) 15 Later than (5) 16 Pal, mate (6) 17 Hold in high regard (7) 18 1994 film starring Tom Hanks in the title role (7,4) 20 Spotless, hygienic (5) 22 Showed, displayed (9) 24 _ Arterton, actor and former Bond girl (5) 28 Withdraw (7) 29 Largest ocean (7) 32 Fire-breathing creature (6) 34 City in Cumbria (8) 36 Large marsupial (8) 37 Pardon or forgive…

Julie Kelly, 52, Thirsk Watching my little girl pushing her breakfast away, I knew that something wasn’t right. ‘Are you feeling OK?’ I gently asked Caitlin, then 3. It was April 2005, and my two eldest Chris, then 15, and Holly, 14, had recently had a cold. I was convinced Caitlin had caught it, too. When she only got worse, we made an appointment with our GP. ‘It could be pneumonia,’ he said, referring us to Darent Valley Hospital for further tests. As we arrived at hospital, Caitlin’s condition deteriorated. She was put on an antibiotic drip and given a blood transfusion. But, holding her in my arms, I felt her go limp. ‘What’s happening?’ I cried as the doctors rushed around us. Then she was whisked off to the…

Sweating is taking over my life Q I sweat constantly in the summer, my clothes are soaked and skin clammy. Do I just have to live with it? Melodi, Winchester A We all sweat, but excessive sweating could affect around one in 50. Usually, it’s simply the way you are, and can run in families, though if it’s a recent problem, or you have night sweats, consult your GP to rule out rarer causes such as infection, an overactive thyroid gland or a side effect of drugs. Avoid triggers such as anxiety, embarrassment, spicy food or alcohol, and keep cool. Wear loose clothes made of natural fibres, leather shoes and change socks twice a day. Extra-strength antiperspirant from your chemist can help, and, occasionally, specialist treatment such as botox injections…

CAR-BOMB CARNAGE A terrorist attack ripped through the largely Catholic community in the town of Omagh, County Tyrone, on 15 August 1998. A 500lb bomb exploded in a car parked in the town’s market square, killing 29 – including a woman pregnant with twins – and injuring more than 200 others. During the decades-long conflict in Northern Ireland, this was the deadliest attack. It was carried out by the Real IRA on a busy day at the end of the town’s annual carnival. No one has been convicted of carrying out the attack. COLD-CASE KILLING On 20 October 1998, the body of 40-year-old Lyn Bryant was found in the gateway of a field on the remote Roseland Peninsula in Cornwall. Out for a walk with her dog, Lyn was spotted…

Tammy Saunders, 39, Colchester Raising our arms, we clinked our glasses and took a slurp of our drinks. ‘Cheers!’ my friends and I chimed. It was December 2013 and I was spending the festive period back in my hometown of Thorpe-le-Soken, with my loved ones. Usually, I live in Colchester, for my demanding job as the manager of a fashion retail firm. But truth was, after splitting with my boyfriend of three years, I was glad to be home. Feeling merry, I sipped my fizz. But by 10pm, I could barely keep my eyes open. Not like you, Tammy,’ my brother Sam, then 26, said. Convinced I’d had enough partying, I headed home to bed. The next day, I was hit by the worst hangover of my life. ‘My head,’…

Strawberry and mascarpone tart Buttery pastry with a rich creamy filling topped with fragrant strawberries. Delish! SERVES: 8 PREP TIME: 15 MINS, PLUS CHILLING COOK TIME: 30 MINS • 300g shortcrust pastry• 500g mascarpone• 75ml double cream• 2tsp vanilla extract• 750g strawberries, hulled and quartered• Small mint leaves, to serve You will also need:• 20cm loose-based flan tin, greased 1 Heat the oven to 180C/Gas 4. Use the pastry to line the tin, leaving an overhang. Line with baking parchment and fill it with baking beans. Chill for 15 mins. 2 Blind bake for 20 mins. Remove the parchment and baking beans, then bake for a further 5-10 mins until lightly browned. Gently trim around the edges and leave to cool. 3 Mix together the mascarpone, cream and vanilla extract in…

Aries 21 March-20 April A glamorous friend might make you feel understated this week, so a spot of online retail therapy to find a new outfit will help to boost your confidence. • Call 0905 817 0690* for more Taurus 21 April-21 May A sight for sore eyes will come back into your life this week when someone you haven’t seen in ages, and thought had moved on, turns up out of the blue. • Call 0905 817 0691* for more Gemini 22 May-21 June Someone tells you something off the record this week. Act as if you’re not interested, but make enquiries all the same to keep yourself in the know. • Call 0905 817 0692* for more Cancer 22 June-23 July If you’re thinking of moving home, this…