firstly, excuse the lack of caps - I'm writing this on my phone.

as kevin said, mum and dad had us kids in difficult times. they were, by today's standards, married a a young age and started a family almost immediately. dad set the tone  for the rest of our childhood by immediately buggering off to sea! mum had to work extremely hard bringing the three of us up almost single handed. it was her who instilled our values and sense of  what ois right. 

in retrospect, I was a complete git  when I was younger and did not appreciate the sacrifices they made for us. I do now.  I'm so glad that she led a full, adventurous life with lots of fun. the enormity of our loss hasn't really occurred to me yet, but when it does, I'm sure it will hit hard.