Yesterday would have been my Mother's 96th birthday, but alas, she passed away just before Christmas last year. It is fair to say that the last seven months have been difficult, missing her as we all do. For me, there is a very obvious gap twice every day when I would ordinarily have talked with her on the phone. Sometimes it was more than twice. As she grew frailer, she needed increasing reassurance and often, just a distraction from what she rightly perceived was the 'looming sunset.'

She lies with her mother and father and aunty at the Eastern Suburbs Memorial Garden at Matraville. It's quite a pretty place, with rose gardens and wide lawns and a view across Botany Bay. I'll visit again soon, place some flowers, say a prayer.