HOLDING BACK THE TEARS ANNIE MITCHELL

This is true story about a Scottish Mother who when she becomes upset she begins to recite poetry using the language which comes natural to her. The setting begins in Edinburgh City then moves onto Dundee Angus area, where the petite Scottish Lassie called Rosie Gilmour, mother to Finlay Sinclair begins to turn her life around with the peace of the countryside.which does not live up to her expectations of country living, believing everyone who lives in the country should adore the life as much as she does. Rosie received news of the death of her son who she refers to as me Laddie throughout her story. February 6th 2000 Finlay Sinclair me laddie tragically took his own life.

Rosie pretends her son is still alive by talking to him, for that takes away the unbearable pain of her loss. She soon begins to face up to the fact that Finlay is not coming back when her imaginary conversations become more of a challenge to control and lead to more than she can handle.

,When memories of her past are triggered by everyday life events, her mind is taken back and forth in time - back to her own childhood days in 1960, when she flirted with the fairground boys, and forward to the day she gave birth to Finlay - ''ME LADDIE''.

Whenever her emotions are heightened Rosie recite poetry which flows from her tongue like water from a watering can. She shares with you her doubts about her own self-worth and and how she prepares to make plans to re-unites her role as mother - a role she had denied herself for seven years prior to Finlay's death. Rosie shares how she learns how to forgive herself and how to accept her loss using practical coping strategies that sometimes but not always work for her.

Many voices of different natures and walks of life appear in Rosie's, story with each one offering a part of their own belief to try and console her in her misery - except she turns her back on any advice or support offered. Rosie is convinced that she can cope with her loss on her own and "needs no help from anyone, thank you" - until a sweet, gentle, soft-spoken voice begins to travel with her throughout her ordeal, leaving her no other choice but to listen.

Eventually moving to the countryside in Angus,Rosie finds the isolation gives her life a new meaning offering her the opportunity to re-value her belief's about her own self values and decides the time has come to give her son a memorial service and invite a chosen few dance companions whom she met on a regular basis in Edinburgh to honour this day. Rosie begins to accept she will never be the same person she once had been and shall never be again, believing now her journey through grief taught her many lessons making her a stronger and better person than she imagined she could ever be.