Life can change direction very quickly in a very small space of time.

We meet friends and often end up talking of families and their well-being.

I will only say ‘as of today, as far as I know, all is well with everyone’.

Last week that story changed dramatically when a family member suddenly became most unwell, ending up in intensive care for two days with a very serious sudden illness.

It brought our small family concerns into perspective as it was so unexpected.

Suddenly plans for a family weekend and a Christmas gathering gained momentum and some serious planning.

All was well after excellent medical intervention and our lives, a little wobbly for a few days, moved on again.

When diagnosed with a life-threatening illness some years ago the experience gave me time to reflect on how life turns on a dime; it’s sudden, no time to prepare, no time to surround oneself with advice or medical options.

That has most profoundly been the case with refugees who have fled homes, leaving behind precious possessions, precious memories and the safety and security of known lives.

There is no way they will risk leaving their children in harm’s way.

Life has become extremely perilous. Their lives have turned on a dime.

I have a friend whose husband dived into a river on his morning swim, their small daughter sitting patiently on a raft mid-stream waiting for him to emerge.

His daughter was found there two hours later, still waiting for her father to emerge from the dive. My friend’s life changed dramatically that day.

I have been party to good changes too, when two people meet by chance after living alone, and love has flourished in what was once a lonely place.

I guess what I am saying is that life is incredibly unpredictable.

A stroke can change the life trajectory of a person in an instant.

On the positive side I had friends who were desperate for children and appeared unable to conceive...until one day there was a sudden realisation that just maybe...this time...maybe they were going to strike it lucky.

So it was and a family was created. Life turned on a dime for them.

They joined their friends in the parenting circle; something they believed was forever to elude them.

How does a parent, a wife or husband feel when they have a family member in the armed forces?

They must live in daily fear of that phone call or that personal visit which could give them the news they have been dreading.

What of parents of young people driving in those careless, carefree over eighteens/under twenty-five age group who believe they are immortal.  

Suddenly parents are confronted with the most feared news of all, the loss of a child through an accident. Life turns on a dime.

We all have dreams of possible future plans. What if we won tattslotto?

Now there’s a dream. I have grand plans of wiping off all the families’ mortgages in one swipe of a bank card.

I imagine myself as the total heroine in my own family as I hand over my bankcard with a flourish!

Life would certainly turn on a dime for them!