So, thanks to my friend/colleague (Frolleague??) Berni Dymet, I read a blog post this week on the subject of bullying.

It was the story of Peter Pilt, a man whose family has experienced cyber-bullying, and in the post, he chatted pretty honestly about how they handled it together as a family.

There’s been some awful, awful stories in the press recently about young girls who ran out of hope, after being bullied on Social Media sites. The comments on news sites almost universally seem to say; ‘If the bullying was online…why didn’t they simply stop looking online? Close their accounts…stop going back??’

But instead, it all became too much and these young girls, so beautiful and otherwise full of life, chose to end their days on earth, because they had no choice but to believe the lies and absorb the humiliation. I can’t even begin to imagine how dreadfully low they must have felt.

Maybe the answer is something to do with family? I’m not trying to comment/speculate on these girls’ relationship with their families….but I know for me at least, I grew up in a family where it was simply non-negotiable; ‘In this family, we don’t keep secrets and we don’t tell lies’.

And we didn’t.

Practically, that meant that if we screwed up, we always ‘fessed up. If we were worried or sad about something, we always spoke up. If anyone tried to hurt us, we always talked about it.

We used to laugh that Mum, Dad, Jon and I were the ‘Four Musketeers’. But it was true and it’s still true today. My family have been there for me through some truly awful times. They’ve had plenty to say at times (whose family hasn’t???) but the bottom line is, we stick together through it all and we tell each other what is going on.

No one is perfect and new people and relationships come into our lives, but the motto for my family always has been and always will be; no secrets and no lies.

I’m blessed beyond measure (I know this!) to have a family who doesn’t shy away from the tough stuff and who support me through all of life’s hurdles.

I salute you, family! You know who you are.

(My bro, me (shorty!) and Dad)

And home wouldn’t be home without my beautiful ma.