The following stories were submitted to our sister website, toowrite.com. They were written by people from Derby or are about Derby itself.
The day that changed my life
Author:
Patricia White
of Derby
This was the start of our lovely little holiday, it was Thursday evening. Little did I know that by the following Tuesday morning, my husband would be dead.
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Can You Believe it
Author:
Alan Baseley
of Derby
No-one could believe this outlandish accumulation of coincidences. We all went through a series of emotional cycles as we first enthused with one another at the incredibility of it all and then sank into our private thoughts in order to pick over the story to see if it really could be true.
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Out in the Cold
Author:
David Twells
of Derby
My dad told me that my mum could not hold me, only look at me through a glass window for some considerable time. I spent many months in hospital and my dad also told me that my mum had cried almost every day continually whilst my illness lasted.
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Don't Forget Your Mobile - Anne's Story
Author:
Huw Morgan
of Derby
With all the residents, Anne knew them like family and of course had selected their books for them. I was amazed how much some of them read. Fifteen books was an easy read for a month, putting my one, back home by the bed, into some perspective!
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I never cried when my dad died
Author:
Lawrence Graham
of Derby
Mum tried to put a brave face on things, she had never told us three kids that Dad had died and couldn't allow herself tears where we could see her, but she did cry.
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Bosnia Bound
Author:
Mick Plunkett
of Derby
No words of mine can describe the scenes that I witnessed in the camp, where 10,000 people, adults, children, and babies lived.
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The Garden Gate
Author:
Gillian Withers
of Derby
It seemed like hours I had spent balancing on the middle bar, my hands growing numb with cold; my heart sinking further into my shiny black boots with every approaching figure who loomed out of the smog without a postman's bag or cap.
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Cissie Viv
Author:
Valerie Price
of Derby
After a happy childhood, she eventually met, and married one Herbert William Lawrence and that is when all tranquillity in Cissie's life came to an abrupt halt!
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First Contact
Author:
Richard Horne
of Derby
All I could do was just stand and stare, a puerile grim etched into my face, as her body swayed in sympathy with the music in front of my eyes. She took my breath.
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Ann
Author:
Maureen Owen
of Derby
To calm me they gave me some sleeping tablets. The way I felt at the time I wanted the tablets to put me to sleep permanently so I could be with my twins.
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