in which the story is outlined, the main characters introduced and we set off on a voyage of discovery…
episode one: endings and beginnings
in which the end of one life signals the beginning of another, and I recall a road trip to the south of France…
episode two: falling for a photograph
in which love arrives unexpectedly, in the form of a photograph…a photograph of a woman I recognise and yet have never seen before…
episode three: a resurrection…of sorts
in which my father comes back to life, only to face a ruthless assassination attempt by his faithless son…
episode four: reflections on love
in which, I, or rather we, ruminate on love at first sight and Genie’s photo in particular…why did she choose it? Am I reading too much into it? And what would Genie herself say?
episode five: through the wardrobe
in which an ‘outing’ leads to an unlikely bond between adversaries and the reservations of well-intentioned parties rattle my confidence…
episode six: what am I doing here?
in which I finally break the news to my mother, who remains calm throughout, and face the scorn of drunken cavaliers alone…for now…
episode seven: infamy, infamy…
…in which I lose my father, spend some hours fishing despite the strong scent of deja vu, find my father again and look for a travelling companion for the journey to come…
episode eight: return of the orchid
in which I launch a daring daylight raid on the care home and, to my surprise, meet little resistance in liberating both my mother and her rather splendid orchid…
episode nine: past, present and future tense
in which the past comes alive over a cup of tea only to vanish in the face of present woes and future concerns…
Continue reading “episode nine: past, present and future tense”
episode ten: the longest day
…in which I recount a typical day, look back on those three dates I managed to squeeze in before mum’s escape from the care home and Maisie the dog pays a visit, along with daughters and ex-wife…
episode eleven: gin and tonic with a zen master
…in which my guru shows me how to ‘live in the now’ and I offer thanks by way of a bowl of those cheesy puff-things and an ice cold drink as the sun sinks low in the sky…
Continue reading “episode eleven: gin and tonic with a zen master”
episode twelve: I can see clearly now
…in which I find time to think about my own future and take the long view on what I might want when the time comes…
episode thirteen: arrivals and departures
in which we celebrate an arrival and a departure, comings and goings, death and a new life…
Continue reading “episode thirteen: arrivals and departures”
episode fourteen: jelly wobbles
in which jelly, once a special treat for her grand daughters, becomes a threat to mum’s life…
episode fifteen: happy grow bags
season three greetings, new beginnings despite Coronavirus, because Spring too is in the air…
episode sixteen: a hopeful hashtag
These are unhappy times, but is there any comfort to be found?
The last place we might think to look would be a shoot ’em up spaghetti western, but these are also strange times…
episode seventeen: the wanderer returns
After an absence of some months, the wanderer returns with news…of a book…you can find out more by listening…
episode eighteen: the hotel du cap
The Hotel du Cap…a love story
My book, Love and Care is out now…here you can read how a glorious fool was so obsessed with what love is and why we love, that he very nearly made a film…
episode nineteen: the sea, the sea
An excerpt from Love and Care, the book…where you can read about a very special a beach walk with my dad…
‘Beautiful,’ says Kate Mosse of the book. ‘Candid and funny,’ says Raynor Winn. Tony Parsons: ‘A superbly honest memoir about the unbreakable bonds of family.’
episode twenty: a modern odyssey
Episode Twenty: A Modern Odyssey begins…
We’re told everything is in constant flux, that change is everywhere, and that nobody stays in one place anymore…some truth to that, but there are signposts to guide us on the journey from one place to another, and from one story to another… Continue reading “episode twenty: a modern odyssey”