In recent years my telephone calls to mum at her Dee Why apartment grew and grew. Some days I would speak to her several times on the phone, especially in the past few months. Loneliness and the closing in of her circumstances meant that she needed to talk. She was lucid, remarkably so, with an extraordinary recall of events that I could barely register. Her body was breaking down but her mind was still agile.

About 8.30 in the evening was the most regular calling time, just after a program like Heartbeat, Father Brown, Yes Minister or As Time Goes By. 

I feel a real gap at 8.30 now, a connection that is lost. She will not be there to answer should I call.