I was a child climbing on the rocks on the coast of Cyprus seeing octopus in the rock pools. They have all gone now. I was a teenager wandering the jungle in Malaysia and visiting stilted bamboo villages. I returned to the United Kingdom aged 18 years. I did not know what to wear or how to behave. People thought I was foreign.

I was too young to start my nurse’s training and was sent to a convalescent home for a nursing pre-training in Clacton-on-Sea. A peculiar contrast to Kuala Lumpur. There I met my future husband at a Young Conservatives dance!

It was a good experience living with other nurse trainees in a semi-detached pebble dash 1930’s house. I ate a lot of toast.

My future husband took me to my nurses training at the Middlesex hospital in London. He also doubled as a father figure (it must be love)

My training felt like climbing a mountain but I achieved it. Then came marriage. I was 22 years.

Children followed. What a magical experience. These perfect beings came out of my body.

It felt overwhelming and I experienced unconditional love. Then came foster children that were so damaged and so vulnerable. I bullied them to read and write. Of course, like every other mother each day felt like a rugger scrum until they were in bed and asleep then they looked so innocent and beautiful.

Those children have grown up and are middle aged with hair turning grey. How odd to see your children grow old.

Then came grandchildren. What a different experience, less intense which opens up new communication but can still be quite tiring!

We have now reached the present. My husband of 58 years died a year ago.

I am in the family home full of memories, but alone.

This is a time of reflection and wonderment for all those years that have passed and yet how to deal with a future that is uncertain?