Hello and welcome to mini episode

17 of Real Life Go Stories. Oh you do. We've got two listener stories for you today.

The first story comes with a warning because there there is conversation about suicide in it

and the second story deals with the loss of a parent. So there's a whole world

that people might not want to deal with in today's episode. If that doesn't sound like it's for you,

please feel free to skip ahead. I'm feeling very fragile and lockdown. I watched After Life

season two today and yesterday and just sobbed the entire time. So if you're a sad program.

Yes, but what I mean is if you're feeling particularly fragile and lockdown, if talking about

suicide or the loss of a parent is not for you, then by all means we shall see you next week

because I don't want to upset anybody. So story number one comes from Paula, are you ready?

Never ready. It was 2004. I was 22. My best friend Noel was 25 and her little sister

Charlie was 18. We've been quite close through childhood, partners and crime if you will.

We taught Charlie how to drink and smoke and we often convinced her to do this stupid shit we

thought might be cool but we're too afraid to try. In 2003 Charlie met a great guy we all loved

whom we'll call Mack. They moved in together when Charlie became pregnant.

Now I would like to sugarcoat it and say they were made for each other. But the fact was that

the relationship was a heart mess. Mack was unmedicated by choice and manic and bipolar.

He was also prone to delusions and had had past run-ins with drug dealers.

It was not uncommon to hear of him scrambling because he owed someone money and they might come

after him. Although he never heard Charlie or their son, he could be violent towards himself

and threaten suicide many times. One day in May Charlie came home. She carried their infant

son as well as the groceries upon her hip. As she opened the apartment door the first thing she saw

...