Letter From Dad

 From Facebook archives and from today

21 February 2016 at 23:03 ·

While looking for something else I came upon the letter my Dad wrote to me in reply to my letter telling him, and Mum, that Phil's cancer was terminal and we didn't know how long he had. I must have read and shared it with Phil but have no recollection of it.   

A lovely letter full of love but the sentence that brought tears was 

"Now, you mustn't worry about us worrying about you."

21 February 2021

As I mentioned previously Mum required us to write home regularly (preferably weekly), and our letters were replied to with news of home.   

Similarly, until Altzheimers took hold, Mum was usually the one who spoke on the phone, Dad would bellow “’Ello” from his chair if prompted. 

If Dad came to the phone there was big news to impart, sometimes very sad news.

But he did occasionally drop us a line.  

 

Here is a poem I wrote about letters from home in 1990 (the year I married Phil)

Letters from home

A letter from my father is a joy,

To be read and re-read with pleasure,

Touching my heart with warmth,

However trivial or hastily written.

A letter from my mother comes weekly,

To be replied to before the phonecall,

Read through and over 

For points to comment on

And questions to answer,

Looked forward to and welcome,

But a little chore.