Our loss - Tuesday 8 January

I want to make only a brief statement here on this blog to alert those of my friends who might read it, and who might not otherwise know ...

I lost my mother on Tuesday when she passed away in her sleep at about 1.45 pm, with just me and one of the nursing staff present as she stopped breathing. She hadn't been conscious for the best part of 48 hours. It's somewhat ironic that my father and sister were not there at the time, whereas I was; they had kept vigil all night, while I had gone back to my sister's place to rest for awhile at about 2.00 or 2.30 am. They were then getting a bit of rest while I took over the vigil.

The funeral took place today, with a very simple service exactly as Mum had wanted it.

I'm not one to make long public statements about my personal feelings, at least not here or now. Suffice to say that I'm distressed, as indeed we all are ... but especially my father who had been married to Mum for over 60 years, since they were a very young (and I might add fine-looking, since we've been poring through lots of old photographs) couple. It's a bleak time for us just now, so we're really just supporting each other emotionally.

For what I hope are obvious reasons, I will continue for some time to be a bit scarce here and elsewhere.