Those heart-stopping minutes!

Dear Rose,

Bad dog!

Pip ran away – again! I think you were asleep – at least you didn’t emerge from your sick bed. Dad came in and told me and I hurled myself out of the bath. Had only just sent the OverAchiever out on her bike around the lake and posted on FB, when I heard panting at the front door. No, not a saucy gardener (sadly!) but one recalcitrant hound.

What is it about those heart-stopping moments when we think we’ve lost someone or something happens and you have that uneasy, sea-sick feeling that your world is shifting on tectonic plates…

Like when I was wheeled off to surgery with you after 11 hours of labour and I thought this could be it – maybe I’m gonna die!

When I got a call last week from a certain employer who I’ve been desperately courting and with my heart in my mouth I thought – this could be it, my life is about to change again…and then it didn’t 😦

And just lately my poor old Dad’s been critically ill in hospital and I’ve been thinking (or trying not to think) this could be it, the last time I speak to him.

I guess it’s called life, right?

Not to be on too much of a downer. It is the full moon, I am crook and somewhere on the pre-menstrual side of things and I did just miss out on the job of my dreams – boo hoo, poor me.

Anyway, just in case you were wondering, sometimes those heart-stopping moments are awesome! The this could be it, we’re going to kiss! The this could be it, I’m going to get published!

Okay, so there’s my sick-day philosophy. Wanna meet me for MasterChef in a while?

Mum xoxo

About Heather Gallagher

Heather lives in Ocean Grove with her beautiful family and a dog called Pip. She has a passion for quirky stories. Her first book, Ferret on the Loose, was published in 2013 and was recently listed on the Victorian Premier’s Reading Challenge. The book was inspired by a girl and her ferret, who Heather interviewed while working as a freelance journalist for The Sunday Age. Her column, Yak Attack, ran in the Kids View section for more than a year and allowed Heather to profile people she thought would be of interest to kids. In 2014, she released her first picture book Happy Pants – Why is mummy so sad? This is NOT a story about ferret racing. Rather, it is a heartfelt story about a boy grappling with his Mum’s post-natal depression. Heather’s stories for children have appeared in black dog books Short & Scary anthology and Explore and Challenge magazines. Heather has experience in public speaking – both for children and adults. While, promoting Happy Pants she spoke to groups of counsellors, nurses, parents and at library events. She has presented writing workshops to primary-aged children. Last year, she was a presenter at the Sacred Edge festival and the Christian Writers’ Conference.

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4 Responses to Those heart-stopping minutes!

Diane says:

July 18, 2016 at 8:43 pm

BIG HUGS Heather. Plenty more publishers out there !!

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- Heather Gallagher says:
  
  July 19, 2016 at 2:14 am
  
  Thanks Diane, it was actually a part-time gig with Geelong libraries which would have been perfect! But more time for writing, right?
  
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Robyn says:

July 24, 2016 at 10:13 pm

Oh Heath, you are so creative in the way you drop your heartfelt clangers. It’s good to vent. Release & push forward. There are many if us right behind, bracing you until you get your momentum again. Then we can run along side, being your personal “Rah-Rah,” team oxo

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- Heather Gallagher says:
  
  July 25, 2016 at 12:16 am
  
  Thanks honey 🙂 Not sure if public venting is such a great way to go 😉 Read a good article on the weekend on aging and it referred to a poem called When I am an old woman I shall wear purple – made me think of you…and me 🙂 Might write about that next!
  
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