This morning, Sunday, in the early hours Richard couldn’t sleep with the noise of the rain hitting the coachroof so he turned the iPad on. He spotted emails to me from both my brother and my sister which is unusual and I was almost too frightened to call them back. The news was terrible – mum had passed away – and I’m absolutely devastated.

This poem says it all.

Every time I smile,
Every time I sigh,
I think of your face,
And a tear escapes my eye.

You were my world,
My inspiration and my heart,
But when you left me,
I thought I would fall apart.

You were my best friend,
My one true confidant,
And that’s not all you were.
You were also my mum.

I don’t want to live without you,
But you would have wanted me to,
And if there’s anyone I want to make happy,
That anyone is you.

I would give anything to have you back,
But I know now that it was meant to be,
For you are still watching from up there,
And I know you’re watching me.

I’ll make you proud, Mom.
I’m going to fulfill your wish.
You’re going to see me and smile.
That’s a daughter’s promise.

Here’s the last family photo I have of my brother, mum and me…..

Rest In Peace Mum – enjoy your reunions up there with those that have gone before – and know that I will always love you. You will never be forgotten and will always be in my heart.

So what next? We are going to pack the boat up quickly and fly out of here on Wednesday, arriving in London on Thursday afternoon. We are leaving Morphie in the water and will ask the marina to keep an eye on her. So this will be my last blog for a while. We don’t know how long we will be home for, obviously, so subscribe to the blog (using the link on the right-hand side) and you’ll then get an email to let you know when I start it up again.

Bye for now
Jan