Me: Don’t look so worried. I’ll be fine.
Nell: Today is a difficult day for your family.
Me: It is.
Nell: You’re saying goodbye to your dear Aunt Pam.
Me: I am. She was my mother’s older sister and it’s the end of an era.
Nell: I understand.
Me: She lived down here in Devon for most of her life and I have so many happy memories of times spent with her.
Nell: I know you do.
Me: She even came over to West Berlin when I was living there. We had a marvellous time together.
Nell: Good.
Me: And even though she and my mother were not alike in character they were clearly sisters so my mother sort of lived on in her.
Nell: You have a photo of them as children on your desk.
Me: I do. My aunt had a wicked sense of humour. We will miss her greatly.
Nell: She lived well into her nineties.
Me: Yes. She was evacuated to Devon during the war and my grandmother followed her down here with my mother.
Nell: So Devon has been home to your family for a very long time?
Me: It has.
Nell: This is bound to be an emotional day.
Me: Yes.
Nell: It’s only a few years since your little sister Alex died.
Me: I don’t like saying goodbye.
Nell: Nobody does, but try and see it as a celebration of your aunt’s long life and a chance to reconnect with your cousins and other family members.
Me: You’re right.
Nell: And remember she is a Guardian now and watching over the family.
Me: Yes.
Nell: We’ll be here when you come home for cuddles.
Me: You’re not the cuddly type, Nell.
Nell: I’m making an exception.
Me: Sorry.
Nell: No sorries. Not today.
