Burning Bright

It’s been a busy year so far full of work, family, studies and recent sadness.  My mother-in-law, Mary Rowe, died on 10th June, aged 91 after some years living with vascular dementia.  Mary always lived with family until her final week in hospital.  When John and I were married 20 years ago Mary lived with us and continued to do so for 10 years until she got completely fed-up with the increasing numbers of children.  By the time Oscar appeared (our fifth child) she decided she’d prefer to live with her eldest daughter, Sheila (and son-in-law, Tom).  My husband is her only son, and she was his good and dear friend as she became to me – although she found me mysterious – not just in my Widnesian strangeness but because I never accompanied her to bingo.