The End of Men

I have never felt so powerful. This must be what men used to feel like. My mere physical presence is enough to terrify someone into running. No wonder they used to get drunk on it.

Ah, the confidence of the mediocre white man.

Just because lots of people are experiencing something alongside you doesn’t make it any better. If anything, it’s harder because you’re not special.

We have seen men wage war since the dawn of time. Nobody wins the wars men fight.

What I do know, from years of reporting, is that ignorance, incompetence and fear so often go hand in hand with governments that none of us should be surprised if the institutions we thought would keep us safe, would in fact be woefully inadequate in the face of a pandemic.

His arrogance is breathtaking. He’s not a geneticist and neither am I. I aspire to think so much of my own opinion that, having never even seen it under a microscope, I can blithely reassure someone that a virus has a genetic element, using the justification of an area of science I don’t even have a master’s in.

I like to ask, so you know they're not forgotten. You remember them and now so do I.

And I think, no one handed me any of this. I built this weird, challenging, rewarding life in London for myself.

This woman had everything in the world she could possibly want but she wanted all the wrong things.

And so, he is gone. The warm body of my lovely husband, mine for 15 years, is gone.

Perhaps some traumas are too overwhelming to recover from.

No one handed me any of this. I built this weird, challenging, rewarding life in London for myself. Why not me?

love is more than fireworks and declarations. It is steady, certain sureness. It is knowing that you are loved. It is knowing that you are not alone.

Be wary of that little voice that tries to twist one scary thing into a spiral of despair.

Shit Life Syndrome: Doctor speak for "there's actually nothing wrong with you. You're just really sad because your life isreally, really hard and there's nothing I can do about that".

It isn't a miracle.It's the result of hard work, dedication and ingenuity. Miracles are easy, working is hard.

I've always been good at making acquaintances but struggled to convert them into deep friendships.

Do you think they’ll be remembered, our sons and husbands? Or will they just . . . disappear?” “I think we’ll remember them, and talk about them and tell their stories. We’ll know we loved them and were loved by them. That will be enough.” She pauses. “You know, the world doesn’t have to remember you for you to matter. We were loved by those we loved. Not everyone can say that,” she tells me softly. No, I don’t suppose they can.

All I ever wanted was my own family. Something solid and tangible. A family tree that went on for generations. A human need, thousands of years old, to be known. I was here.

Girl is powerful and unapologetic about that power even though on a terrifying day, years ago, she ran.

The memories of my past with the love of my life, the happy life we lived as a family and the future we planned and dreamed of. It is all gone, and I don't even have the ashes to show for it.

I think we'll remember them, and talk about them and tell their stories. We'll know we loved them and were loved by them. That will be enough." She pauses. "You know, the world doesn't have to remember you for you to matter. We were loved by those we loved. Not everyone can say that," she tells me softly.

Sometimes being a doctor makes me a worse parent emotionally but a better parent practically, and this is one of those times.

Bad things and good things can coexist,” Amaya says with a sad smile. “And we have to find the good where we can.

There are no allowances or respect for grief. The whole damn world is grieving

But I promised in our wedding vows to always listen and never judge. I was twenty-four! I didn’t know anything about how annoying it can be to have to listen when you just want to have a glass of wine.