Missing Grandma a year on. Remembering the time spent in her various houses... the tadpole pond which strangely set my imagination off (drew all the tadpoles as ninjas for some reason)... the "mansion" with the creepy route to the bathroom in the dark (and me and Helen getting flashlights for Christmas there so as to better navigate its shadows)... and then the last one I saw when I last came to visit (en route to a short jaunt to Madrid, I think...) - with a very unexpected framed poster of revolutionary Lenin on the wall!

One year on from Mum’s death, on 23rd April 2020, and we have not yet held a proper funeral for her. Having had a direct cremation last May, Covid-19 has prevented us from doing anything more. Mum would probably tell us not to bother! But we do intend to have some kind of memorial occasion, when circumstances allow. Much as Mum’s illness was a shock, it’s a relief that she didn’t have to suffer for long, and especially that she didn’t have to go through a year and more of shielding and isolation. I can only imagine how frustrating she would have found it, and the comments she would have made. “Isn’t it appalling?” – I can hear her say. More positively, but sadly, I think how fascinated Mum would have been to see her great-granddaughter Amelie’s development over the past year (as I write this, Amelie is in her cot, supposedly having her afternoon nap but instead playing with her dolls, singing and talking to herself). She always said that raising and educating children was the most important thing in society. That sort of debate is just one reason why I miss her and think of her so often. Andrew