I have written the introduction to my proposed book and in doing so formed the title ‘Death of a Family’

This book is essentially about death. The death of my parents and the death of a family.

Introduction

My family are almost a distant memory to me now; a hazy past of good and not so good times. My parents were from an older generation full of wartime experiences, ration books, make do and mend. They started a family relatively late for post-war Britain, and when I came along in 1963, my parents were in their 40’s. I was the last of four sons which meant a significant age gap between my siblings and myself. I only vaguely remember my older brothers living at home and consequently, I never bonded with them.

This book is about my emotional response to my Mother, the matriarch of the family. She had two sides to her character, one being loving and the other being much darker and ill-tempered. This anger seemed to permeate to my siblings to an extent when my parents died, we cut all contact with each other

My father was the complete opposite of my mother. He was a mild-mannered man, despite spending most of his early life in the army during the second world war. It was rare for him to lose his temper, he was always calm, and I like to think I inherited his temperament.

This book contains a series of text and images, reflecting some of these lasting memories.