Where it all began

This is us - Helen and me - 15 blissful years ago when menopause was still something we were naively totally unaware about. Helen was responsible for getting me back on a stage for the first time in over 15 years and rekindling my love of all things theatre. We'd just both had some pretty spectacularly difficult situations to handle on the personal front, and our friendship was forged.

We have talked bluntly about perimenopause since we were in our mid 40's, comparing symptoms, Doctor's responses, gynacologists appointments, intimate sugeries, nutritional supplements and much much more over the last few years, and so when I wanted my jotting to see the light of day I checked in with Helen.

She was looking to expand the amount of podcasting production she was doing, and so we hatched a plan to do a few episodes of Hot Flashes as a podcast....and it spiralled. At time of writing we have 38 actors recording monologues as varied as Alien sociologists reporting back to the galactic council on this quaint planet with this thing called menopause to Lady Macbeth lamenting sleeplessness rather than murder and menopausal grandmothers taking their grandchildren to school with gin bottles not water bottles.

We're not exactly surewhere it's going, but we're letting it go........and we'd love your writings - please send them to us at helena.jevons@gmail.com and become part of the next collection of women's own writings.