Goodbye Lynda's Mum

Got a message this morning that Norma Burke had died. That's Lynda's mum.

It's the first time I've heard from Lynda for years. She was once my son's partner and we used to sit in that house in Harehills Avenue in Leeds and gossip over gin and tonics followed by walks with the dog in Potternewton Park. The dog was Sheba. Got lost eventually at a music festival and never found again. A lovely dog. So sorry, Sheba.

So sorry, Norma, that you've gone. So sorry, Norma, that I didn't get to know you better. You were always so friendly and welcoming. 'Come and see us when you come to Leeds. Don't forget to come and see us.' But I didn't go. Never went.

Exchanged Christmas cards and that was it.

Norma was a loving woman. She fed my son his Sunday dinner for years when he was together with Lynda and I was overseas. He used to say she was the perfect mother, and once he asked why I couldn't be like her.  Why couldn't I live round the corner and cook Sunday dinner? This thought is like a splinter of glass buried somewhere. Pulled it out and tried to feel better.

I don't think I've got a picture of her. In fact, I'm sure I haven't so I can't post one but the image in my mind is of her smiling face. She nearly always smiled. Goodbye, Norma - you made the world a better place.