You’ll never beat Mum’s ham sarnies

ALTHOUGH I dream of them, I’ve never been very good at holidays.

When I was a child, we enjoyed wonderful days out on the coast north of Liverpool or picnics in Cheshire. Oh, my mother’s ham-salad sandwiches! We went to the Isle of Man once, but to me it wasn’t as good as Blackpool with Nan and Grandad.

Holidays cost money, so I wasn’t brought up to think of them as a ‘right’.

My first husband was a workaholic who loved Devon, so what time we had off we spent by the River Dart. Then a friend persuaded him that holidays in Italy were a good idea, so we had a few years of real breaks: hot sun, kids in the pool, lovely dinners on warm nights, sightseeing, sleeping. Perfection.

I started to write travel journalism in the Nineties (nice work if you can get it), but recently I’ve returned to my bad, old, hard-working ways, and last year we didn’t go away at all.

Last month, I took a week off (this column is absent only twice a year) to work on my latest book, but a chest infection lost me that precious time.

Then a lovely reader called Eileen wrote in: ‘Everyone needs a break, Bel, but can I make a plea? I’ve read your column for years; it’s the first thing I turn to every Saturday. So please, please give us notice when it’s going to be missing! Just a little note would do.

‘It would save me the frustration of searching the entire front half of the paper several times, convinced I’ve missed you!

‘Hope you have another break soon to make up for the one you “lost”, but please warn your readers!’

OK, Eileen, here goes. We’re heading off for a week in the sun with my daughter and her family, leaving my son and his wife in charge of our home and dog.

So the column won’t be here next Saturday, but after that it will be business as usual.

Do send me your worries, and I’ll see you on June 4.

Bel answers readers’ questions on emotional and relationship problems each week. Write to Bel Mooney, Daily Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT, or e-mail bel.mooney@dailymail.co. uk. A pseudonym will be used if you wish. Bel reads all letters but regrets she cannot enter into personal correspondence.