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JANE ATKINSON
Kate Garraway has found comfort in her work after the loss of her husband… we should all be happy for her
Each person deals with the loss of a loved one differently
WHEN Kate Garraway returned to Good Morning Britain less than a week after her husband Derek Draper’s funeral, she bravely said that “life must start again”.
She explained to the viewers: “I don’t know how it’s going to be. Grief isn’t containable in a day or year.
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“People ask why I’m going back to work. We have to pick ourselves up and go on. That’s what Derek would want me to do.”
And Derek probably knew her better than anybody.
He probably knew that keeping busy, being with her work friends and finding comfort in a job that she clearly loves so much would be exactly what his grief-stricken widow needs right now.
But still cruel online trolls have attacked her.
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Some have slammed her for laughing and having fun on screen and others for even daring to go back to work so soon.
Deeply personal
Thankfully, Kate had the strength to hit back at those vile keyboard warriors, telling viewers: “I got a bit of flack on social media yesterday for laughing with you, as though that would imply I didn’t care.
“But when you laugh you’re laughing because you want the joy that person brought to continue.”
The death of a loved one will sadly be something every one of us will suffer.
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And each of us will deal with it in a very different way.
Some of us will throw ourselves into work for the distraction. Others find the thought unbearable for days, weeks or months.
Kate Garraway reveals heartbreaking chat she had with daughter Darcey as she went to register Derek Draper's death
There is surely no right or wrong for such a deeply personal thing.
When my mum died I didn’t return to the office for three weeks.
When the Geordie’s mum passed away last month he was back in the office within three days.
I know that there is no difference in the love we shared for each of them or the grief we actually felt.
But we have dealt with the aftermath of death very, very differently.
And maybe in hindsight he, just like Kate, has managed to do the right thing.
Because those who can drag themselves into work and use that employment as therapy to keep busy and fight off the raw, intense, overwhelming heartbreaking grief for a few hours a day are actually the lucky ones.
That job is giving them respite, forcing them to take their mind off the emotional turmoil and horrid, heartbreaking reality back at home.
Kate admitted she was crying as she had her make-up done before going on screen, but said that it was still “lovely” to be back at work.
Her life has been turned upside down.
Derek was 56. She has two children who have lost their father, but she has found some comfort in the routine and stability of work. We should all be happy for her.
And maybe those who have criticised should stop and have a good, long think about how they would really cope when their time comes.
REGRET BEFORE PAROLE
PAEDOPHILE Gary Glitter has just had a parole hearing less than a year after he was recalled to prison for breaching his licence conditions.
He was freed in February 2023, halfway through his jail term for historical sexual abuse of three schoolgirls.
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The serial sex offender was sent back to prison six weeks later after The Sun on Sunday caught him discussing searches on the dark web.
Glitter has failed to take part in any programmes to address his offending because he continues to deny having a sexual interest in children.
Surely something needs to be done about our parole system.
The latest figures show it cost £62million over five years for criminals – including murderers and rapists – to pointlessly try to get out of jail.
That’s more than £10million a year that taxpayers like you and me are coughing up for.
The perfect way to bring that bill down is to stop perverts like Glitter from being allowed a hearing until they finally show some actual remorse.
lIT seems one man’s tasty treat is another’s “corporate irresponsibility”.
Ex-health minister Lord Bethell has slammed Domino’s for its new Creme Egg cookie, saying the chain should be “ashamed of themselves”.
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Oh stop it.
What’s not to love?
WE all know that shoplifting is out of control.
And everything from baby milk to painkillers is being nicked from supermarkets as villains cash in by selling them on.
But the tale of Kieton Pearson, who was jailed this week, is baffling.
He stole 22 packs of Lurpak butter worth £95 from a Sunderland Tesco while serving a suspended prison sentence for attempting to steal cheese during a violent shop raid.
The dairy-loving thief admitted to pinching the butter – his 72nd offence.
Clearly a slippery customer.
Ooops, I did it with Ben
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BRITNEY Spears took to Instagram this week as she had a sudden flashback and remembered she once “made out” with Ben Affleck.
Apparently she completely “forgot” that it ever happened and her memory was only jogged by an unearthed photo of them together.
Which makes you wonder how many other A-listers she has simply forgotten she made out with.
LADY’S TITLE TATTLE
WHAT a proper little madam the Earl of Cromer’s daughter is.
Lady Venetia (yes, really) Baring spoke to posh mag Tatler, giving juicy anecdotes about her granny, the Dowager Countess of Cromer, who was a lady-in-waiting to the late Queen.
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She claims the dowager told her just how much the Queen didn’t like Princess Diana, leading to her father calling her a liar.
During the interview she also claimed to be so discreet that her friends don’t even know she has a “title”.
I doubt that very, very much, Venetia.
A KING’S RANSOM
THE fallout between the wife of the late “King of Sheffield”, “Big Willy” Collins and Sheffield City Council is like something from Peaky Blinders.
The council says his gravestone is different to the design submitted. The marble memorial is huge, with two life-sized statues of the 6ft 2in former bare-knuckle boxer, and a solar-powered jukebox.
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His charming wife Kathleen threatens “very bad riots” and a “war” if they try to demolish it.
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To be fair, I’m not surprised she’s a bit gutted.
It cost about £200,000, which is not the kind of money anybody would want to chuck away.
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