Dad moved in with us in Winchester in March 2019, after Mum died. We finally had a chance to do some of the things that he had been putting off during his many years of caring for Mum at home and latterly visiting in the nursing home. We reinstated his National Trust membership and, along with his stays at Sue’s, he visited a number of properties. We often went to Hillier’s arboretum, and he mastered one of their motorised scooters so we could get around more of the gardens as his mobility decreased. We did walking tours of Winchester, and did lunches at the pub with Uncle Pete. He joined a singing group in Winchester, for people like him with memory loss, and enjoyed our weekly sessions. He loved sitting on the decking in the sunshine, or pottering around the garden, weeding and planting - which is now giving us a lovely display of spring bulbs. We spent many Saturday mornings, in all weathers, watching my children (Emma, Jacob and Hannah) play or practise football, with Dad encouraging them to ‘use your left foot more’! We had many big family lunches (“not too much for me” he would say, but would always scoff the lot!) We went a few times a week to our favourite cafe, at a local golf driving range, where he would occasionally enjoy some putting. We watched many of his favourite TV programmes together - Repair Shop, Michael Portillo’s train journeys, a wealth of ‘daytime TV’ like Escape to the Country, Homes Under The Hammer and Wanted Down Under, musicals from the 40’s & 50’s, snooker, cricket and football matches galore, and always the BBC 10 o’clock News and Weather. We listened to playlists of his favourite music - Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Flanagan & Allen, and anything by Andre Rieu. Best of all we had the most wonderful holiday to Scotland last October, starting with a few days, just the two of us, visiting Edinburgh, getting dressed up to go and see The King & I at the theatre, visiting friends and family, walking around the impressive Royal Yacht Britannia, and then joining up with the rest of the family and driving to Thurso on the far north coast, where we had the most wonderful weather for visiting places like John O’Groats. 
Dad’s health started to deteriorate around Christmas time, becoming firstly unable to make it to his AVIVA or Old Tauntonians lunches and events, then unable to stay with Sue or visit his house at Barton, and slowly becoming housebound, and eventually bedbound, but always engaging with the family right to the end, speaking with family on the phone and kissing the grandchildren ‘goodnight, God bless’. 
We were so fortunate to be able to spend this last year with Dad and have so many lovely memories to cherish.