So the Parental Unit rings me for a chat about ISAs, vomiting kitlings (Ceri-chan is feeling a bit better thanks) and then she comes up with this gem:

“You never going to believe who I saw on TV last night?”

“Er … okay, who?” asks me.

“Freda,” she says.

Freda is my paternal grandmother and one of those influential people in my life who shaped who I was. I adore her but sadly she developed dementia and Alzheimer’s a few years back and eventually moved into a home near Newmarket. We try and visit when we can but what with Chris and Cheryl expecting and Mum and me leading busy lives, we don’t visit as often as we’d like.

So Mum explained: Freda had appeared on the Tonight programme broadcast last night, focusing on dementia, and part of it had been filmed at the care home where Freda now lives. Mum was stunned and it was only when she heard her voice, for a moment sounding like my grandmother, the one I hadn’t hear in years with none of the dementia, spoke. 

Anyway, the programme itself was very interesting and can be watched using the ITV Player here.