I wanted to leave home when I was about twenty-two, my boyfriend trained in a college near to my home then was based at Heathrow so I wanted to move nearer but my mother did the emotional blackmail, had my bedroom redecorated and recarpeted when I was away working one week, I didn't like to move after that. That meant that I only saw him about alternate weekends - hence the situation in the post about regrets.

I actually left home the week before my 25th birthday in the end, my company moved me to Jersey, that will be forty years this November.

My children both went to university, my daughter lived with me for a year after she graduated in order to save money to fund the beginning of a PhD, my son came back after graduation and packed some stuff and hasn't been back since, he will be 33 in a couple of weeks so that is 12 years ago.