Portsmouth

I know I was born on a Friday because the date on my birth certificate works out that way. Mum also said Friday, although she gave me two different times over the years and once moved the whole thing into the afternoon. I have kept the morning version because that was the one she used most often.

My earliest memory may not be mine.

We visited Nan Wells on Sundays often enough for the routine to feel fixed, though I cannot say whether it was every week.

We moved to Portchester in August 1969, a few weeks before my seventh birthday and before I started at Castle Lane Junior School.

Gran Collins counted her change before she left the counter.

Claire was born on Friday, 28 March 1986, in Portsmouth.

Michael was born on 11 July 1989 in Portsmouth.

Dad had a stroke less than a week before he died.

Mum had a stroke on Tuesday 27 September 2016.