LAVENDER BLUES
Doris Corti
Doris Corti
The poems at the beginning of each chapter allow us a greater insight into the author’s emotions and give the reader a sense of reflection and acceptance about the events as they unfold.
Doris’s story celebrates the triumphs of small successes in the face of coping with a progressive and terminal illness but is also honest about the enormous strain and feelings of desperation that carers experience.
Clive Evers - Director of Knowledge Management
Alzheimer’s Society
With compassion, love and fierce devotion, Doris Corti faced the tribulations and anxieties that being a Carer brings to many. Those who know may sympathise, those who don’t may learn.
Martin Holroyd -
A versatile freelance writer and poet, Doris Corti writes under her maiden name. She is poetry adviser to the Society of Women Writers & Journalists and poetry critic for Writing Magazine. Her poetry and articles are included in many poetry magazines and anthologies produced by Cassells, Puffin, Stride, Macmillan and others. She leads Poetry Courses at Writers’ Summer Schools and tutors on the Poetry Home Study Course that she wrote for Writers’ News. She is in demand to give readings of her work in various libraries and also conducts poetry workshops and discussions at these venues.
It was a late summer morning when something happened to my husband Arthur that was to change our lives forever. We were in the hall of our house getting ready to go for our usual walk. Now retired, we both enjoyed this regular outing. The phone rang and, putting his jacket down, Arthur picked up the receiver. ‘It’s Peter.’ He smiled at me, and I knew that as old friends they would be chatting for quite a while. I went into the kitchen and put some things away in a cupboard, sorted out the fruit bowl and then returned to the hall.
Arthur was still holding the receiver, but he gestured for me to come and take it. He pointed to his mouth. ‘I … I … ah…’ was all he managed: no other words came.