Birds, animals, people all died but I wasn’t there. I was at boarding school from the age of 5 – 17 so, when by chance Jackie the canary died, I asked if I could bury her. With great care and attention and having prepared her coffin – a soap box that emanated the fragrance of rose, lined with cotton wool, I duly placed her in her grave below the lime trees. I knelt and said prayers on my own. I was about 7 years old. No one joined me. It was a very special moment in time.
