Sunday, 5 March

Sunday, 5 March

Well, here we are. Two weeks ago, we celebrated Mother's Day, and Mum had had a good day; and tomorrow, 6 March, will mark two weeks since Mum left us.

Maybe it's something to do with the time scale, but I've felt quite sad today. I have nearly finished contacting all the people I need to tell, jobs have been done, authorities informed; I have also posted off the last of the Easter Cards - all of which I wrote with Mum - and it certainly feels like the end of an era. It is very weird writing letters and not including her in the sign off at the bottom! I know I shall get used to it - I have to - but after so many years of including Mum in everything we did, it will take longer than a week or two.

Last night (Saturday, 4 March), I also wrote to four families in Germany, who don't speak English, and I wanted to write a letter to each of them in the most elegant and poetic way I could, to let them know what had happened; I found it really hard to do.

There is one family in particular in Hamburg, with whom we keep in touch; he is the brother of a lovely chap we knew from East Africa days, called Jurgen, so we all go back such a long time. I once had a terrific crush on Jurgen - (don't ask... he was very nice and very patient, and I must have been a real pain when I was 12 and 13!) - but he had eyes only for Ulla and they got married in1960. (Oh, the gnashing of my teeth at the time!) When they lived in Germany, over the years we would go on holiday and visit them. Wendy remembered one trip with her Grandma, when they sailed to Hamburg on board the DFDS ship Prinz Hamlet - it was a wonderful way to travel, sailing from Harwich and ending with a 3 to 4-hour cruise up the river Elbe to the port of Hamburg. Wendy took the car with her, and she and her Grandma had a great time in Hamburg, meeting up with our old friends.

Looking back at times like this, I realise it is completely true when we say we've always included Mum in everything we've done; we've given Mum good memories, but in so doing, we also given ourselves happy times to remember.

Sadly Jurgen and Ulla died some years ago, but we still write to Jurgen's wider family, and hope to meet up with them again one day.