in which I launch a daring daylight raid on the care home and, to my surprise, meet little resistance in liberating  both my mother and her rather splendid orchid…  

…in which I lose my father, spend some hours fishing despite the strong scent of deja vu, find my father again and look for a travelling companion for the journey to come…  

in which I finally break the news to my mother, who remains calm throughout, and face the scorn of drunken cavaliers alone…for now… “What are you doing here?” says my mother. She’s smiling, as if relishing my surprise.

in which an ‘outing’ leads to an unlikely bond between adversaries and the reservations of well-intentioned parties rattle my confidence… My sister is cleaning my parents’ bungalow with my ex-wife as enforcer.

in which, I, or rather we, ruminate on love at first sight and Genie’s photo in particular…why did she choose it? Am I reading too much into it?  And what would Genie herself say? Last time, I promised a break from family matters and especially the war...

in which my father comes back to life, only to face a ruthless assassination attempt by his faithless son… We sit either side of her, me on the piano stool, my sister in a resident’s chair that happens to be empty.

in which love arrives unexpectedly, in the form of a photograph…a photograph of a woman I recognise and yet have never seen before… It was full night when we arrived at Phil’s broken down farmhouse. Nothing had changed. In fact,

in which the end of one life signals the beginning of another, and I recall a road trip to the south of France… This is what I remember… I remember the busy corridor jammed with people. I remember the nurse, in something of a panic,

in which the story is outlined, the main characters introduced and we set off on a voyage of discovery… …maybe that’s a little grand, a gentle sea cruise then, island hopping between the vagaries of love and the challenges of care…grab a sundowner and ...