Goodbye to Mum and Dad: Taking Stock of the Past Year

After eight years together, Mum and Dad finally married in Clapton on 4 April 1956. Apparently it snowed. After the ceremony at St Andrews Church, photos were taken at Auntie Gertie and Uncle Oliver's house in Loughton. Gertie's daughter (Mum's niece), Janet, was chief bridesmaid, and both full families were in attendance with one exception. Not long before the wedding, Grandma Edie had died. In the wedding photographs, whilst Dad looks full of pride and happiness, Mum appears sad but radiant. She was given away by her brother John. The reception was at the rambling King's Head pub in Chigwell. Mum and Dad were a good match. Dad was highly sociable and could talk to anyone. Mum was naturally shy, unusual in the Kirby family, but she gained in confidence as she got older with Dad by her side. Mum covered up her shyness by talking a lot, and she said a lot of funny things. Dad was placid, with never a bad word to say about anyone. He hated confrontation. Mum was emotional at times, and I'm the same. Mum used to say the reason we argued was because we were so alike.

Andrew Kirby-Pugh was an only child who enjoyed a close relationship with his parents. He was struck at his core when his mum and dad died within five months of each other. In Goodbye to Mum and Dad, he shares a personal and honest account of changes within his close-knit family throughout the course of the last year.

Told from a son's perspective, and drawing on his own memories and stories passed down and shared, Andrew reflects on the lives of his parents before documenting their final months. He shares the effect their passing has had on him, his own life, and his plans for a future he hopes they would be proud of.