Toni’s Blog

The phone call from my sister, Jenny, came just as I was leaving work.  Her voice sounded harsh and over loud,yet there was pain in it, too.

“Angela, I’ve got something awful to tell you,” she began.  My heart started to beat furiously at the tone in her voice.  “Mum died this afternoon, just after three...”

Her voice broke on a sob, and there was silence for a moment.

“Jenny, what happened?” I gasped into the phone.

Mum had been fine last time I went home to see my parents, just six weeks ago.  Surely death couldn’t come so quickly - without me knowing, being aware of it.

“They said there was nothing they could do,” Jenny went on tearfully  “She’d been ill a long time and didn’t know - then it was too late.  Angie, you must come home...now.  You must!”

“Of course I will, Jenny,” I told her quickly.  “I’ll take time off...  Catch the first train tomorrow...”

My words were disjointed and didn’t make much sense, but I couldn’t help it.  It didn’t seem possible that Mum wouldn’t be in the kitchen at home, fussing over the teapot and getting out the inevitable cakes.

“As soon as you can...” Jenny said.  “It’s Dad, you see...”

“What about him?” I asked anxiously.

“He’s taken it badly,” Jenny went on with a rush.  “I can’t cope with him like you can.”

Pushing away my own grief and tears I quickly made the necessary arrangements with my sister and promised to be home by lunchtime the following day.  When I put the phone down I was shaking like a leaf.  Poor Dad.  No wonder he’d taken it so badly.  My parents had been a devoted couple all their lives, and we’d often teased them about being a real Derby and Joan when they retired.

Only that wouldn’t happen now.  Dad still had a few years to go before then and they’d be lonely years without Mum.  Tears welled into my eyes as I thought of him all alone in the house I’d grown up in.  A house filled with happiness and laughter.  Now it would be empty and cold.  Like Dad’s heart, I thought sadly...

“Angie?  Are you all right?”  Tony, one of the men I worked for came over to where I sat, my head in my hands, quiet sobs shaking my body.

I dried my eyes and took a deep breath.  Then I told him about Jenny’s phone call and that I’d have to go home, I didn’t know how long for.

“Take as long as you like, love,” Tony said kindly.  “We’ll manage here.  Is there anything I can do?”

“No, thank you, Tony,” I said.  “But I must go – there’s a lot to do before tomorrow.”

“In that case, let me give you a lift.”  He helped me on with my coat and propelled me over to the door.  I felt a strange numbness creeping through me and it was an effort to force my legs to hold me up.

Tony was marvellous.  He insisted on coming in with me, made me a strong cup of tea, then phoned Richard.

“He’ll be over as soon as it takes to get here,” Tony told me when he put the phone down.  “That’s a terrific guy you’ve got there, Angie, you hang on to him.”

“Oh, I intend to,” I replied.

“Feel better?” he asked.

I nodded.  “Yes, a lot better,”  I told him.  “Thank you, Tony.  I don’t think I could have got home on my own.”

“You’re telling me,” he said.  “I’ve never seen you like that before.  I suppose I’ve got used to your bright, efficient, nothing-can-shake-me, secretarial look!”

Tony and I had always got on well.  He was in his late thirties and lived for his wife and two children, but there was a special sort of feeling between us.  A friendship it would be hard to find with another boss and a friendship I valued very highly.

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