I Think Bravery Means A Different Thing

You May Think That's Funny Osama But You Never Can Squeeze Every Last Bit Of Pride Out Of A Human Being. It's Like A Tube Of Toothpaste. You Can Twist It And You Can Crush It But There's Always A Tiny Bit Left Isn't There?

My Maternal Grandmother Was In London During The Blitz. Indeed, The Man She Was Dating Before She Met My Grandfather Was Killed Beside Her In A Cinema, In 1941, When A Bomb Came Through The Roof - A Tragedy In Which She Herself Was Badly Wounded.

So When I Say That I Am A Refugee, You Must Understand That There Is No Refuge.

I Was Astonished To Find That The Positions My Grandfather Had Defended Were Now Overgrown And Entangled With Trees And Thorns. I Suppose I Had Developed A Sense Of Reverence For The Locations He Described In His Memoirs And Letters - The Forts And The High Emplacements. I Had Expected Them To Have Been Preserved In Some Way.

There Was No Quick Grief For Andrew Because He Had Been So Slowly Lost. First From My Heart, Then From My Mind, And Only Finally From My Life.