Let us take a moment to remember and thank the ladies & matriarchs of our families, the solid foundations of our innocent childhood and yet so often overlooked.

They are the backbone of my life, protecting me, my siblings and my cousins with a strong armour of house coats and an undefeated weapon of deep-rooted love.

On every occasion without fail from christening to funeral, the troops gathered on demand and militantly set to work industrially making mountains of sandwiches and cutting them into perfect fancy triangles, stacking freshly-baked sausage rolls with precision, delicately arranging infantries of cheese and pineapple hedgehogs all finished off with a delicious layered and bejewelled trifle to feed the troops.

No one dared to go hungry, with everyone rolling out of the room, feeding the untold expression of love. You’re celebrating … then eat, you're sick ... you need to eat, a tragedy happens ... eat but also put the kettle on. Simple foods that were staple, savoury & sweet pastries and cream buns all before calories existed and people worried about hypertension.

They lovingly baked and iced the celebrated birthday cakes, trimmed up the bejewelled Christmas tree, wrapped all the presents with care and clapped along at the annual nativity with hearts full of pride and a tear in their eye. Aunties, grandmas, cousins second cousins forming a safety net for us children with an impenetrable shield of maternal love.

Of course, we loved them right back and showered them with gifts of handmade cards and keepsakes that where treasured and keeping us forever children in their hearts. We hold them as a goddess or royalty, surely all their effort were worth a sainthood.

A bowl of soup when you were ill and a kiss at bedtime was worth more than diamonds and pearls building a strong foundation of unwavering love for them all, before we were reluctantly released out into the world.

They are my true heroes, leaving us brim full of unconditional love, kindness and protection. They worked three jobs, kept the home and sacrificed everything to make us thrive as if their lives depended on it. 

Curing us with homemade treats and heavily prescribed hugs the best form of nonverbal counselling. Our homes where our sanctuary our safe space, whilst the angry men went out to work.

Everything I am today is thanks to them.

Craig Binch

Craig is a longstanding member of the writing workshops. He works in the NHS and is incredibly prolific with over a hundred stories since he started in May 2024. He has fifteen stories in our first anthology, Flash Dances.