BooksBarbecue
Back Familiar Strangers Save as PDF
Chapters (71)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Prologue
  4. Chapter One
  5. Chapter Two
  6. Chapter Three
  7. Chapter Four
  8. Chapter Five
  9. Chapter Six
  10. Chapter Seven
  11. Chapter Eight
  12. Chapter Nine
  13. Chapter Ten
  14. Chapter Eleven
  15. Chapter Twelve
  16. Chapter Thirteen
  17. Chapter Fourteen
  18. Chapter Fifteen
  19. Chapter Sixteen
  20. Chapter Seventeen
  21. Chapter Eighteen
  22. Chapter Nineteen
  23. Chapter Twenty
  24. Chapter Twenty-One
  25. Chapter Twenty-Two
  26. Chapter Twenty-Three
  27. Chapter Twenty-Four
  28. Chapter Twenty-Five
  29. Chapter Twenty-Six
  30. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  31. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  32. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  33. Chapter Thirty
  34. Chapter Thirty-One
  35. Chapter Thirty-Two
  36. Chapter Thirty-Three
  37. Chapter Thirty-Four
  38. Chapter Thirty-Five
  39. Chapter Thirty-Six
  40. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  41. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  42. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  43. Chapter Forty
  44. Chapter Forty-One
  45. Chapter Forty-Two
  46. Chapter Forty-Three
  47. Chapter Forty-Four
  48. Chapter Forty-Five
  49. Chapter Forty-Six
  50. Chapter Forty-Seven
  51. Chapter Forty-Eight
  52. Chapter Forty-Nine
  53. Chapter Fifty
  54. Chapter Fifty-One
  55. Chapter Fifty-Two
  56. Chapter Fifty-Three
  57. Chapter Fifty-Four
  58. Chapter Fifty-Five
  59. Chapter Fifty-Six
  60. Chapter Fifty-Seven
  61. Chapter Fifty-Eight
  62. Chapter Fifty-Nine
  63. Chapter Sixty
  64. Chapter Sixty-One
  65. Chapter Sixty-Two
  66. Chapter Sixty-Three
  67. Chapter Sixty-Four
  68. A Letter from Jackie
  69. Acknowledgements
  70. About the Author
  71. Also by Jackie Walsh

After putting everything back where I found it, I sit down on the bed. I don’t think I have been here on my own since the day Mom was taken to the care home. The worst day of my life. I cried and cried, watching her sit in the wheelchair by the end of the bed while I packed the clothes I felt she would need. Once those clothes left they were not coming back. Blouses, dresses, pants, jumpers, all held up for her to choose from. She smiled, saying ‘Ooh,’ and ‘Lovely,’ before gazing again at the wall. Packing for her long goodbye broke me. I was so sad I wanted to get sick, but who else would do it? Who else could reduce my mom’s existence to one small suitcase and a shoulder bag, which was what we had been instructed to do. I couldn’t ask Dad. He was standing out on the deck, drowning, Danny’s arms wrapped around him, helping him survive the torment. It was torture hearing the howls of pain break through his tears. The house was soaking in agony, and my mother played with a necklace.

At first Mom didn’t know what was going on, but that quickly changed. When Danny wheeled her out to Dad’s car, and she saw her case put into the trunk, her hands started shaking. She gripped the side of the chair and tried to stand. She wanted to go back inside to her own home but she hadn’t the strength. The fear I saw in her eyes that day will haunt me forever. She cried, sobbed, screamed. And we still put her in the car.

The care home had left instructions that only one of us should go along with Dad, so Danny went. We decided he’d be stronger for Dad when it came to leaving Mom behind. I would have cracked up.

Watching the car drive away down the street, knowing in my head that Mom would never be coming home, destroyed me. It was a whole new kind of pain. The kind only a daughter could have for her mother.

When the car turned out of sight I went back into the house. Everything looked different, empty, pointless. Even the clock on the wall didn’t chime that day. Though I think it might have been broken.

That was two years ago. It feels like only yesterday, and forever, at the same time.

Chapter Eight