AMAZON IS HOMELESS

I was talking to Amazon on the phone this morning and noticed a little twang in her speech; she's got a boyfriend who comes from Motherwell or Hamilton; somewhere outside Glasgow anyway - well, and there she was, tacking 'ay' on the end of her sentence. I didn't say anything but it made me smile. She's had a bad year; her ex-partner (who shall not be given a name) stole her son away from her at Easter and now she has to go through the court system to get him back, completely. He got a temporary order by telling huge lies; I am amazed it was that easy for a man to take a child away from its mother. So, it's still going on and they have my grandson between them half the week each. In my opinion, he is just doing this to control her.

Almost two weeks ago the shop beneath Amazon went on fire. She only escaped with her life because a young man on his way home saw it and raised the alarm; he ran up the stairs knocking all the doors. He knew Amazon and called her name through the letter box. When she woke the flat was filled with smoke (broken smoke alarm!) and all she got out was her phone and her life; in the clothes she stood up in. Her flat got the worst of it; fire, smoke and water damage. All my stuff is stored in her big cupboard! I'm hoping that because they were mostly packed in tightly that they'll be okay. Mostly worried about albums and photos. Thank the stars that her son was with his father that night.

I had a great time the other day, shopping in Primark for Amazon; looking for basics-with-a-sale-tag. I got: a set of towels for £7; slipper socks at £1; jazzy belts £1; fitted pinstripe jacket £6; thick, ribbed, stripped jumpers with big polo-neck £1; pretty bra £1; flip-flops £3; T-shirts, tops and what-have-you.

Everyone has rallied round; aunties turning up with toasters and kettles, and bags of cupboard food, for the new flat. One of her friends had found a sofa for her and organised the removal so that Amazon only had to pay the driver diesel money; it all happened so fast that she was a bit overwhelmed but paid out £30, but then they discovered that the sofa wouldn't fit into the flat! So I get the manic phone call; she's still in shock, to some extent (I just can't wait till I finish this job and get up there). She was hanging about in this empty flat with nowhere to sit or sleep and the sofa she'd just forked out the last of her money on was standing up in the outside landing. In the end up, someone from the housing association turned up to sort the hot water and said he'd see if he could get some help with the sofa. He returned with his boss and they took the door and frames off to get it inside then put it all back together again! And now everything is rosy; she's got somewhere to sit and sleep; the bed comes next week.

This daughter of mine is a true Amazon; in the last five and a half years she's gone through so much, the main thing being a brain haemorhage when she was nineteen! I hope this is the last.