The Feel Good Factor

First of all a huge WELL DONE to my two oldest nieces who have done brilliantly in their As and GCSEs. Well done girls! We're so proud of you!

But to other matters. On Wednesday night I organised a Girls Night Out to see Mamma Mia. Eight of us, ranging in age from late twenties to late sixties. When we got to the pub to meet up, we found yet more women – all enjoying a glass of wine and getting In The Mood. This was sisterhood at its best.

Having had a hectic day I was exhausted and felt most unlike going out – a glass of wine, a collapse and an early night was more what I felt like. But I had something to eat, picked up a friend and we walked into town together. It’s her 60th birthday next week so we were talking about her celebrations and got down to the pub where we met more friends, and by the time I’d had a few glasses of wine – well, I was raring.

The film is just terrific. I had expected it to be good but it was even better than I’d imagined. The location is fabulous – the Greek island of Skopelos, the cast is terrific – Meryl Streep excelled herself, as did Julie Walters and oh, the lovely Colin Firth. (A nice twist at the end there, with the lovely Colin.) Piers Brosnan was – well, Piers Brosnan, but he looks good in close up and the entire two hours went by in a flash.

At one point, as I dashed down to the loo, desperate to miss as little as possible, I thought, “I don’t want this to stop. I want this film to go on and on.”

The audience – mostly female – were a great lot. We sang, laughed, cried, clapped and I was dancing as well as you can sitting down. (Try it, it’s fun.) We emerged into the dark August night and grinned at each other, exchanged our favourite bits of the film. We all agreed that we wanted to go straight back and watch it all over again. But as it was late, we walked up the hill with smiles in our hearts, dancing in our feet and music in our heads.

I didn’t sleep much – I had too much music roaring round inside me. If you haven’t seen this film – GO! It will remind you that life can be terrific, that mothers and daughters are special, that friends and laughter are so important, and that love really does make the world go round.

And you know the best bit? That wonderful warm feeling stayed with me for the whole of the following day. It’s still with me now. Forget Prozac – go and see Mamma Mia. I'm hot footing off to get the DVD as soon as it hits the shops, so I can have a top up whenever I need it.