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.’