I Thought ......Wrong!: Jamie's Life

By Sandra C Farrell

Jamie is a fictitious character however most of the trials and happenings of his
life are from true life stories belonging to the many youngsters I have had the
pleasure of knowing during my lifetime so far. I hope people will enjoy this book and
it will hopefully only be the beginning of many books about Jamies Life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Jul 4, 2013
• ISBN: 9781481796309

Sandra C Farrell

I was brought up in the village of Larkhall with two brothers and two sisters and we always played well together and enjoyed each others company while growing up. Our parents were very encouraging and allowed us to be as independent as we could be. I always did lots of baby sitting for friends and family from quite a young age. My husband and I got married in 1978 and we had four children. It was a lovely time while they were growing up and our home was always busy with other children visiting and playing. During those years my husband and I helped run a youth fellowship for youngsters between the ages of 12 - 16 in our local church for many years so we got to know some of the problems that youngsters face from time to time. I also joined the Children’s Panel for three years which was very enjoyable and educational. I felt that I wanted to do something to try and help these youngsters and I hoped that writing about Jamie might let somebody know that it’s ok to be different. I have always wanted to write a book especially aimed at ages 10 - to early teens. I thought....Wrong is a book that I think will appeal to many since the character Jamie is someone who is very aware of those around him and what he thinks is expected of him. Like most youngsters he gives himself a hard time believing he does not fit the ‘image’ he thinks he ought to be. However as time goes on................................. Sandra C Farrell

Book preview

I thought ……

Wrong!

Jamie’s Life

Sandra C Farrell

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AuthorHouse™ UK Ltd.

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Bloomington, IN 47403 USA

www.authorhouse.co.uk

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© 2013 by Sandra C Farrell. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 05/22/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4817-9629-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-9630-9 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Chapter 1- Getting acquainted

Chapter 2- Good buddies

Chapter 3- The Competition

Chapter 4- High School!

Chapter 5- The Girls!

Chapter 6- The Gang

Chapter 7- The Hearing

Chapter 8- Restorative Justice

Scottish Slang

This book is dedicated to my mum

who was my best friend and confidant.

Chapter 1

Getting acquainted

I’ll never make it up here; I think I’m going to faint I need a drink, and a mars bar would be nice . . . . ‘would you like a rest Jamie’? Mrs Wilson burst into my thoughts with her cheery voice. ‘Yes please,’ I said quite astonished that she appeared to read my mind!

Mrs Wilson was nice she was one of the school helpers who had volunteered to climb Tinto hill with us, it was hard to tell what age she was; she was old but not as old as my Nana but older than my mum! ‘Why don’t we just sit here for a while until we gather our breath again’? She said, we both sat on a large boulder. ‘I’m starvin and I could do with a drink, I wish I hadn’y ate ma lunch all in the one go’ I moaned. ‘Oh don’t worry Mrs Wilson chirped I still have some goodies here,’ just then Mrs Wilson produced two oranges one for her and one for me. I didn’t normally eat fruit but this was different, for one thing there wasn’t anything else and another thing I was famished and thirsty with all the walking and climbing. Normally it would have been a bother peeling it but not this time and boy was it tasty, ‘that was great Mrs Wilson thanks.’ ‘Oh don’t mention it Jamie’ she said ‘I always keep a wee stash of God’s sweeties for occasions such as this’, I didn’t know what she meant by ‘God’s sweeties’ but since she was one of the Sunday School teachers at the local church I expected she knew what she was talking about; she handed me an apple which I gladly accepted. I scoffed the apple in jig time and it tasted as good as the orange had. ‘I’ve not ate any fruit in ages Mrs Wilson, that was magic’.

I had a severe weight problem, all of the other kids from my class were miles away they were probably at the top by now and I wasn’t even half way up yet. I had been fat for as long as I could remember and was not into sport of any kind for obvious reasons. I had dreaded this day for weeks but at least it was dry and I was lucky to have Mrs Wilson for company. She wasn’t like some of the other volunteers; she wasn’t bossy and she was always cheery and never ignored us, she made a point of speaking to everyone and she made me feel kind of special when she spoke to me as she remembered my name, none of the other volunteers did.

‘That’s good Jamie’ she said, I’m glad you enjoyed it ‘but you should try and eat fruit instead of crisps or chocolate bars you’ll soon acquire a taste for them; it’s a proven fact that people who eat unhealthy food are statistically more overweight than those who eat a healthy diet, and not only that it can cause things like a heart attack and many other illnesses in later years. ‘Have you ever heard of cholesterol’ (I had heard the word but didn’t know what it meant; I nodded as though I knew) well if you eat too much fatty… . blah blah blah I’d heard it all before I very much doubted that there was any help for me . . . and watch what you eat and drink… . blah blah, aye right Mrs Wilson tell it to somebody who believes what you’re saying, I was saying silently, fruit and vegies in your diet and drink plenty of water… she was on a roll it was as if someone had wound her up I thought, . . . and overweight blah blah If I were you I’d try and cut out fizzy juice too it causes all sorts of problems, did you know it’s full of sugar?’ Finally I said, ‘so I’ve heard, but I don’t think it’ll make any difference to me with my weight, I said matter of factly’. ‘That’s not true Jamie’ exclaimed Mrs Wilson, ‘it would make all the difference to your health and your weight’ she seemed so genuine, ‘Are you sure’? I said with a glimmer of hope, ‘yes I’m 100% sure’ she replied.

We all need to be doing some exercise too to help burn up the calories that we eat; do you go to any swimming, running or involved in a football club?’ ‘No’ I admitted because I knew I was rubbish at all sports and didn’t care for it, anyway I had no one to go with as I was ok to laugh at, I could eat all my sandwiches in 3 minutes and drink a can of juice in 2, I was the class clown and everybody laughed at me and I liked making them laugh but deep down I didn’t really like myself very much and obviously neither did anyone else because I had no real friends. ‘Our church runs a basketball team on Saturday mornings for youngsters your age, she said, why don’t you check it out it seems to go very well. No way I thought they’ll all be super fit and I doubted that they would want someone like me on the team and anyway I didn’t know how to play basketball. I’m not sure I said, but I’ll think about it and I meant it but whether I’d get past the thinking was another story!!!

I had dreamed of being thin for years but never really believed it would ever happen but Mrs Wilson appeared to know what she was talking about. She always seemed so genuine and I wanted to believe her I wanted to give this a go but I wasn’t too keen on going to places on my own where I didn’t know anybody! How are those tiny terror twins doing? Asked Mrs Wilson. Mum took the twins to play group on Friday mornings at the church so mum and Mrs Wilson knew each other quite well Oh they’re ok I said but I really wanted to talk about me for a change this was important . . . Do you think it’s possible I could loose some of this weight Mrs Wilson (bringing the conversation back) If you give it your best shot Jamie then definitely! She said. I think I might try then I decided. ‘Well I’ve got some healthy eating sheets at home that might help