A quick Monday morning update

Tom here.  Jack's just said I need to open this post with a line detailing how the last time I was up this early, I probably had an accident in my bed.

Whilst that is factually incorrect, it is true that I am not an early riser. Anyway, enough about me, you want to know about mum, or "sick note" as Jack affectionately calls her.

We all left last night at 11pm, with the exception of Dad, who stayed to be with mum and hold her hand throughout the night.  He called at 5:30am to say that her breathing had become shallower, and that he thought that we should come in, so here we all are gathered around her bedside, taking it turns to hold both her hands as we talk about random topics.

We don't know if she can hear us, or if she wants to listen to conversations about boats, the RNLI, or milling wood into planks, but at this point she doesn't have much of a choice! Someone could tell us that there was only a tiny chance she could hear, but we'd still be here nattering away with the hope that our voices were providing her with some extra comfort in her last hours.

I'm currently watching her. She looks very peaceful, but her breathing is now very shallow and quiet. I better stop typing because I'm rather worried that she could slip away at any moment, and that really would put a downer on the end of this post!