Nicky's Mum

Nicky was my best mate at Bath University back in the early eighties. She was a lovely girl and looked after me like a sister. We both left in 1985 – she went on to become a maths teacher and eventually head of department, while I just drifted about doing a bit of this and a bit of that.

Fast forward more than thirty years -  I hadn’t seen her since I was 8 months pregnant with my eldest son, Sam. Then in 2024, Andy announced he was doing a first aid course for paramotor injuries (yes, I know, worrying). The venue was near Bicester, which just happens to have a massive designer outlet. Obviously I invited myself along. I suggested we stay at the Travelodge so I could nip off shopping while he played at being a paramedic.

We were there for the weekend and I’d planned to do Bicester on the Saturday and Oxford on the Sunday… until I remembered Nicky lived in Chippenham, not far away. So I sent her a random message after thirty-odd years. To my surprise she replied straight away and said yes!

We met up and didn’t stop talking for hours. By the time we’d finished we’d made a proper pact to see a lot more of each other.

There’s only one problem – I’m in Yarm, Teesside, and she’s down in Wiltshire. So, last time we met up, we decided to meet somewhere roughly halfway. Sheffield won. It’s dead easy from the train station, everything’s walkable, and there’s Meadowhall. Perfect. Nicky could happily spend hours looking at bathroom accessories and kitchen bits, while I tried on clothes clearly designed for people half my age.

We were sat having a brew in between shopping trips when I started telling her about Tomson and the signs he keeps sending me. Nicky’s mum passed from the same cancer as Tomson, and she still misses her terribly. She was really interested and asked how she might connect with her mum.

So off I went on my usual spiel – sit quietly, ask for a sign, it might be a hair pull, a feeling of energy, a smell, whatever. I was right in the middle of my wittering when Nicky suddenly jumped and shouted:

“My mum just pulled my hair!”

We just stared at each other, absolutely gobsmacked. I reckon Tomson and Nicky’s mum had a little chat up there and decided to give us both a proper “we can see you, you know” moment.

Addendum

I showed this to Nicky before posting. She loved it but pointed out she was never actually head of maths. I’ve left it in anyway… because let’s be honest, she definitely should have been!

She then added with a laugh, “Funnily enough, I got a really clear head tingle the other day — and both my mum and Tomson came straight into my mind!”