Earlier this week my son reached the grand age of 18. We had a family gathering to celebrate, which was lovely. There is something amazing about being surrounded by loved ones united in celebration, a warmth and joy that feels totally peaceful. In the past there have been periods of difficulty within the family, but we are now all, it seems, moving forward once more, healed and together.

We ate pizza, the guest of honour's favourite food. Shortly after he had requested the pizza, I discovered that Tesco were doing half-price Pizza express pizza, so they were delicious and economical!The only difficulty there was trying to cook so many at once. I squeezed two onto each shelf, which was fine except for the outer edges where there was less support, causing the dough to slump downwards during the 12 minute cooking process and drip cheese onto the floor of the oven. Fortunately they did not retain that contortion, and flattened out on the plates.

The candles were divided between two cakes, and were successfully extinguished while the guests pulled party poppers. Nobody knew what they were, as they were gold and conical, displayed in a tall vase in the middle of the table, so they survived until the end of the meal. We also had crackers, courtesy of Tesco Sale- only £1.05 per box! Unfortunately, one of the guests was hit on the head by some nail clippers flying out of a cracker, but she was unscarred.

I suppose I should feel old, as I now have two grown-up children. I don't. I feel more or less the same as I did when I left school. I think part of that is due to my restored health, though, which has definitely given me a new lease of life. when I left school, I believed I could do anything, a feeling I'm trying to keep alive in my children and myself. Life is all about belief. If we believe we can do anything, we really can. Life experience has proved that to me, time and time again.