Feeling a gentle nudge, I yawned and rolled over. ‘Tashy, are you awake?’ whispered a voice.
I turned my head and saw my mum standing there. It was January 1994 and I knew what had happened. ‘Dad?’ I asked. She nodded her head, and then tears began falling from her eyes as I leapt from my bed to comfort her. ‘Oh Mum,’ I said. We stood like that for a while in the darkness until she was able to speak. ‘I got the call last night and went to the hospice. It was a peaceful ending.’
My brother Jason, then 17, came into the room and we sat on my bed, too stunned to cry or speak.
Although I knew this day
