That Was The Week That Was — 12th July 2026

“Can you come to the care home?”

“What’s wrong?”

“We’d rather not say on the phone”

With these words on Tuesday afternoon I knew my Mum had died. The day before we had been out together, laughing so hard people were looking at us as we ate our scones and cream which my Mum, as usual, said were “gorgeous.”

After my Dad died in 2007 my Mum had lived with my Sister, doing an amazing job looking after her as her Dementia gradually worsened. Almost a year ago to the day we took the heart wrenching decision to place her in a care home but over that year she had grown to like where she now lived, with the staff doing an amazing job and loving having her there.

Every Saturday we would go for lunch and unlike many sons you often see taking their mother’s out, this was never a chore or some duty bound transaction but something we both looked forward to, talking about the past, current events, laughing and doing crosswords, with my Mum often amazing me with some of the answers she was able to utter despite the dementia. Her increasing deafness did however add an extra joy to our crossword sessions; “Forecast, 7 letters?” “Four cats? I haven’t got four cats! That’s four cats too many! I don’t even like cats!”

We’re all devastated by the sudden loss of our Mum. She was full of love for us, very funny, always glamorous, and never stopped talking about anything and everything. She’s left a huge hole in our lives that will always be there.

We love you Mum.

Originally posted to Instagram