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Author - Melinda

Melinda with teal cup coffee, IMG_6781

Dating: A Middle-Aged Widow’s Open Letter To The Man Who Thinks He Wants To Date Her

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WHAT MEL DID

If I knew I was carrying this cool dude 23 years' ago, I would have dressed up for the occasion. I am cool by association and blessed by blood. Happy birthday, Harty. Mummy x
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#whatmeldid #melindafargo #melfargo #sons #sons #sonslove #birthdayboy #happybirthday #parenthood #parentblogger #littlestoriesofmylife #familyfirst #familytime @hartfargo

“MISSING”

I haven’t written long-form for the best part of a year. The last post on my blog was about the man who believed he wanted to date me. That monologue may have given him pause. This piece I have been sitting on for months revising and editing, editing and revising. That’s the thing about writing. When our writing muscles are flexed daily and the words come easy, it leaves little room for self-doubt. Leave it a month or nine without writing and the peanut gallery in our heads take over, throwing rotten tomatoes at every letter on the page, jeering at our belief that anyone would want to read anything we had to say. So it was with my first real editor and to which this new piece, “Missing,” is dedicated. I hope you enjoy my words. Mx

Post link:
https://whatmeldid.com/missing/
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#beach #brontebeach #scenic #sunseasand #parentblogger #pbloggers #pbloggersuk #parentblogger #littlestoriesofmylife #blogger #bloggers #blackphotographers #lifestyle #blackblogger #norwichblogger #melindafargo #melfargo #whatmeldid

OUR CHILDREN AS TEACHERS - this was the young woman who said at around the tender age of 7:⁠
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"If we can't stay in our PJs all day on a Sunday in our own house then when can we?"⁠
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There started the family tradition of anyone in the family being able to call "PJs DAY!" on a whim.⁠
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This young woman continues to turn my head with a wisdom beyond her years and the kindest heart I want to hold onto and protect. A job I have thoroughly enjoyed and embraced over the past 26 years.⁠
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Happy birthday, Morsey.⁠
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Love, Mummy x⁠

There is always a day each year – not always the same one – I officially name spring. It used to be when Bronnie brought me the first daffodils of the season or the sudden appearance of cotton candy blossoms on our trees. But even now, living in the city without Bronnie or my country garden, I can recognise a day that smells sunflower fresh, a day full of possibilities, a day I name spring.⁠
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WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES - This is my first ever (ever) birthday post. It's hard to believe pre-COVID even Denzel Washington wearing only baby oil could not have prised me out from behind my camera lens. So, whilst I'm here in some form, let me say a MASSIVE THANK YOU for your kind words and messages this week. It has meant a lot. And much love and happy birthday to my lovely twin sister today too. Mx ⁠

THIS TIME LAST VALENTINE'S - I was already missing my children as I walked past a wedding store this morning which was showcasing one of their favourite books from childhood - “Guess How Much I Love You.” The kids would be beside themselves when their father then flung out his arms and shouted “This Much!” That became a bit of a thing in our family. Still is.⁠
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And this exact day last year, I was with two of the children. Tess had flown in from New York and, together with Morgan, it was we girls together in London. It would have been impossible to imagine then that flying in from anywhere, or hugging and laughing in close proximity would have been damn near illegal a year on.⁠
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Continuing the trudge to get some essentials this morning, I passed another store which also encapsulated what I want for all of my children; so I will end with the profound words from Primark’s window:⁠
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“Stay Safe. Live.”⁠
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In the meantime, know I love you all “THIS MUCH!”⁠
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Mx⁠

LET IT SNOW - It’s snowing and which reminds me why we banned TV on school mornings when my “kids” were children. Morgan and Hart would move at the pace of jam racing marmalade uphill when it came time to turn the TV off and get ready for school. Bronnie and I, as well as corralling children into showers, breakfast and school uniform, also had to get ready for work and the demands of the day. And God-Damn-It, those children seemed to move even slower when it was a big meeting day at the office.⁠
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Then one school morning it snowed.⁠
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I caught the furtive looks between the children, but thought nothing of it and, to be fair, they were getting ready as asked, but at a more studied rather than a slow pace. It was hard to define. Come to find out the children were waiting for the text to come in cancelling the school day because of the white stuff falling from the sky, which had now settled on the ground to about 3 inches.⁠
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The text came in.⁠
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Morgan and Hart were out of school uniform, into house clothes and tobogganing down our driveway with other kids from the neighbourhood faster than a Government U-turn.⁠
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“So you kids do know how to move in the mornings,” I shouted through the kitchen door, as a snowball hit me thump in the middle of my forehead.⁠
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Happy snowy Sunday, friends. Mx⁠
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KINDNESS PLEASE STAND - There were many great moments in yesterday’s US Presidential inauguration. I for one high-fived the TV when Joe made it down those stairs to start his four-year journey. (Those of us in the “certain age” bracket salute you, Sir.) And what his speech may have lacked in orgasm-inducing rhetoric, it made up for in kindness. A glimmer of hope for a different approach to the many (many) subjects which currently polarise and divide us. My daffodils, which have stayed stubbornly closed for the last few days, came out in full bloom and agreement this morning. 🇺🇸

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THE CUSHION MAVEN

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE. And the winner is:

Well done @creationsbykeziah 🎉 🍾 🎈🎊

Keziah, your prize is packed and will be shipped this weekend. Please DM your address details and telephone number.

And a sincere thank you to everyone who took part as you made my first Giveaway a tremendous success. HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE. 😘 Mx

Hahahaha, I had no idea this is how I look in a room full of fabric. Thank you for this photo @hartfargo (I think) for capturing this moment during our Thanksgiving weekend in London last week. Being said, if I died and this was heaven? Take me now. Happy Thursday, friends. 🤩 Mx

Photo credit: @hartfargo

𝐆𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐘 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄 as a "Thank You" for making 2021 a phenomenal year for The Cushion Maven. Prize (worth £225) for one lucky winner:

x 3 oversized velvet scrunchies

x 2 heavy woven cushion covers, backed with a sumptuous lime green cotton velvet

x 2 100% cream crisp cotton pillowcases, with elegant raised floral design

x 1 weighted yoga eye pillow filled with organic sunflower seeds

x 1 Liberty silk face mask

𝗧𝗢 𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥
1. follow The Cushion Maven account @thecushionmaven
2. like this post
3. tag a friend
4. Enter as many times as you'd like (1 comment = 1 entry)

𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝟭𝟭:𝟬𝟬 𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟯 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟭 and the winner, drawn randomly, 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝗼𝗻.

Legalise: please note this giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook/Instagram, etc, etc, etc. 😊 Good luck. Mx
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#thecushionmaven #cushionmaven #scrunchiesareback #scrunchie #hairaccessories #accessories #scrunchielife #90s #hairstyle #90sfashion #scrunchietime #scrunchielove #hairaccessory #handmade #stilllife #stillife #livethelittlethings #flowersofinstagram #photooftheday #handmadewithlove #handmadegifts #artisanmade #handmade #smallbusiness #smallbusinessowner #smallbusinesslove #smallbusinesses #smallbusinessowners #smallbusinessmarketing #smallbusinesslife

I must stop styling summer photoshoots
I must stop styling summer photoshoots
I must stop styling summer photoshoots
I must stop styling summer photoshoots
Clearly winning

Who else sometimes wants more time to actually create? I've barely touched my sewing machines recently. There again, I am grateful I can do all the other tasks surrounding a small business without having to reply on others. I'd just be more grateful if I had 25 hours in a day to do it! And, yes, I am balancing my laptop on a fabric sample book. I guess that's pretty creative! 😊Mx

I’m thinking of going rogue this Christmas and styling a light Christmas theme. Knowing me, though, I will need a rogue element - because lime green in a Christmas theme isn’t enough. Some may think that sounds like the finger of Death, but it’s only me who’ll have to suffer the… reaper cushions. 😂 Death… reaper cushions (repercussions)? I heard that joke this weekend and was determined to shoe horn it into the Monday post (✔️). Just as well, as the weather definitely isn’t giving us something to laugh about in Norfolk at the top of another week. Never mind. Love and light for the coming seven days, friends, love and light. Mx

I didn’t always recognise when my mental health needed attention, even believing such a consideration belonged to “other people.” This can be especially true when we’re the take-charge-rely-on-me sort, taking a perverse pride in piling more and more onto our proverbial plate. Add to that if we also perform extremely well under pressure. The clues when we need to take stock are different for all of us. My clues are when I’m not creating and/or walking in the mornings thinking about creating. When I started to pay attention, I saw this meant I was coming down with something - or hadn’t yet dealt with something. I now pay attention to these clues and posting this image to memorialise that understanding ahead of World Mental Health Day tomorrow. Mx
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#thecushionmaven #cushionmaven #worldmentalhealthday #worldmentalhealthday2021 #mentalhealth #mentalwellness #mentalwellbeing #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthisimportant #mentalhealthmatters #mentalhealthrecovery #mentalhealthmotivation #mindsetcoach #blackcreativesmatter #blackcreativemagic #blackcreativesociety #blackcreativesinc #blackcreativesconnect #blackcreativematters #blackcreativesrock #blackcreativesunite carysflowersltd nufurnishingsandfabrics
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Melinda

Melinda is a passionate entrepreneur and creative. She will marry Denzel Washington after the sudden disappearance of any of his wives.

Copyright © 2021 | Melinda Fargo

Home
About Mel
Contact Mel

Of late

Missing
Dating: A Middle-Aged Widow’s Open Letter To The Man Who Thinks He Wants To Date Her
In Plain Sight
When You’re No Longer The Hippest Person In The Room
If We Are What We Routinely Do, Some Of Us Are In Trouble
First Things First: Why Don’t You Love Me?
Why Am I Telling You This Story, Again?
The One Where Valentine’s Day Was A Matter of Life and Death
We Make Plans And The Universe Says “Bog Off”
When I Grow Up
On diabetes and finding love in a homeless place
Who To Call At 4.00 am?