Chapter 28

Over the weekend as a family we talked to Alice about the decision she had to make. By the time Sunday night arrived she had come to see that her mother was not present in her body and that it would not be in Dora's best interests to prolong her life. I think what finally clinched her decision was the fact that Isa had spoken to her about her love for her mother and her mother's love for her.

If the stroke had killed your mum Isa had argued you would have been sad and distressed but you would have a lot of happy memories about your life together. In time these would have made you grateful and helped you overcome your sadness. She went on to say that if Alice let her mother's end drag on, this could become a burden to her, and would do nothing for her mother. If it dragged on long enough it might even sour your memories.

On Monday Joe took time off work to go with Alice to the hospital. When she asked to see the doctor, Joe was at her side as she told him that she did not want to prolong her mother's life needlessly. She gave him permission to switch off the ventilator. The doctor knew the young girl was distressed at having to make this kind of decision and did his best to reassure her that she done what was best for her mum.

Over the next few days we all spent some time with Alice as she visited her mum for several hours each day and most evenings. Katy and I were with Alice, who was holding her mother's hand, when she had another seizure, and this time when it passed, her mum was dead. The nurses came in just as her mother expired. They checked her pulse and when they realised she was dead, they drew the curtains round the bed. Before leaving they told Alice she could stay until she felt she had said goodbye to her mother.

It was about half an hour later when we left the ward with a tearful Alice and took her home. The nurses had told us we could collect the death certificates the next day and start making arrangements for the funeral. When we returned to the house Joe and Isa once again took charge. They took Alice to her mother's council house looked out the insurances, called the undertakers and made all the arrangements that were necessary.

Joe contacted the minister of the church where they had been married and where Sinead had been christened and he agreed to do the funeral. Though he knew nothing about her mother, he spent a long time talking to Alice and learned about her illness her bouts of depression and times of hospitalisation. He learned how her husband had left her because of her illness and had died a few years later of cancer.

Alice also told him how her mother had worked and hard to make sure she could allow her daughter to fulfil the potential of her brilliant mind and how much she felt she owed to this woman whose life had been such a struggle.

He visited the house several times in the days before the funeral and I think having Alice talk to him about her mum helped her to face up to her loss and prepared her for the ordeal of the funeral.

On the day of the funeral all our friends turned up and several of the people who had worked with Dora were also present. All told there was a turnout of over thirty people for the occasion and the minister spoke of Dora's courage in the face of adversity, of her love and concern for her daughter and her daughters love for her. He spoke about her long struggle with her mental disorder, and how, despite this, she had always managed to care for her daughter and had helped her on the way to achieving her ambitions. As someone who had been drafted into this situation knowing nothing, he helped us all to go away feeling a new appreciation of all that Dora was and all that she had sought to do for her daughter.

Joe had organised a reception for the mourners where tea and coffee and sandwiches were served. All the swimming team's mums and dads and our team mates who turned up for the funeral also attended this. Some of her mother's work mates also came they all spoke to Alice and told her how impressed they were by her mum's courage. They said they admired how she had managed to bring up such a lovely young woman and enabled her to go on to university. They also commented on the fact that Alice had shown in her own way how much she had appreciated and cared for her mum by looking after her in the times when depression overcame her. I think all these comments helped Alice to cope with the day's events.

In the days after the funeral we had to deal with the problem of the tenancy of the house. The council were reluctant to allow it to continue in Alice's name as it was a three bedroom dwelling and offered her instead a one bedroom flat. This was in a not very desirable area and was certainly much less convenient for travelling to and from the University. Alice did not know what to do. But again, Joe and Isa stepped in. They told her with a smile that they would accept her as a lodger and that she could continue to occupy her current quarters.

When Alice asked about the rent Isa had put her arms around her and said that it would cost them very little to feed another mouth and that any money she saved on rent would enable her to clothe herself and buy her books and perhaps cut down on the amount she would need to borrow from the student loan company.

Alice was overwhelmed by this and had to be persuaded by Katy and me to accept what Joe and Isa were offering. We pointed out that with any luck we would be joining her next year as students at Edinburgh University and she finally gave in and agreed to stay with us.

Once the Funeral was over, our family's thoughts turned to Christmas. With this being Sinead's second Christmas and with her now in her feet and able to move like lightning, we had a debate about how early output up the Christmas tree. We had thought of putting it up at the beginning of December, but Joe consulted Alice to see how she felt about that in the light of her mother's death. But she agreed that the family should do what it normally does.

Joe explained that the usually put it up later, but this year because of Sinead, they decided they would start earlier with the decorations. Alice said that she would look forward to that as much as Sinead, so we all took a hand in decorating the Christmas tree. The sitting room, Sinead's nursery and the kitchen, by the time we had finished the l had taken on a really festive look. Now that the tree was ready our minds turned to shopping. Over the past two years, Katy and I had given Joe and Isa a joint Christmas present but this year, Katy decided that she and Alice were going on a serious shopping trip and we would each do our own thing.

Alice had been worried about Christmas because she did not have a lot of money, but to her surprise when her mother's estate was settled and the insurance policies paid out, and funeral expenses paid for she discovered that she had inherited, what was to her a princely sum of eight thousand pounds. Though she would not get the money from the inheritance for some time, there was enough left over from the insurance policies to give her some help with her Christmas expenses When we discussed Christmas with her and knew she would want to give everybody a present we told her to think small as she would need this money to help her with her studies.

On Christmas day Sinead who was a good sleeper did not awaken the household until about seven thirty. Those of us, who wanted to lie a bit longer, knew that she had to be changed and fed before the great Christmas gift opening ceremony began. We were all up for the occasion as Sinead had been too young the previous year to take in what was happening. As we gathered round the tree Sinead was mesmerised by all her present but I think she enjoyed the attention she got from unwrapping them as much as the presents themselves. We certainly enjoyed them too since we all took turns at playing with her and showing her what to do with the various items that Santa had delivered.

We followed the pattern set since we all moved in together and we went out for our Christmas dinner which had been booked well in advance. With all that was going on I think Alice was able to forget her recent bereavement for a time. She had certainly enjoyed her morning as she and Katy had amused Sinead for much longer than the rest of us. In the afternoon we lazed around as the toddler, exhausted by all the excitement, went down for a nap.

After a light supper Joe turned to Alice and said,

"I know you intend to do honours degree in Chemistry, but are you still thinking of going on to do medicine after that for it will mean years of further study?"

"I am not sure," Alice said thoughtfully, "But even if I decide against Medicine I will want to do research, so that will mean going on for my PhD. This will make my study period a bit shorter but it will still mean at least six years. I am keeping my options open."

Listening to this, Katy responded.

"If you have to fund this yourself you are going to be carrying quite a burden of debt even though in Scotland we don't have to pay fees."

"I know, Alice replied, "but as my mum did not have a great wage I am getting a grant. That will offset some of the debt I might have incurred otherwise."

"Nevertheless," Katy argued, "it is a burden that you have to think about when deciding which route you want to go down."

"If I decide on medicine," Alice told us, "it will eventually be less of a burden when I am fully qualified since a doctor's remuneration is quite good at the moment."

Later that week Alice had gone with Isa to finish off the clearance of her mum's house as representatives of a charity were arriving to collect the furniture that no one else was interested in. Once the house was cleared, the lease could be surrendered and Alice would no longer need to pay the rent. It was the final piece of business needing to be taken care of. With that finally out of the way we hoped that Alice would be able to put things behind her and get on with her life.

Just before Christmas I had received and end of year report from my accountants on the state of my investments. While the others were away I was taking this time to go over them while Katy got down to some studying for our prelims which were in January. These were dummy runs for the higher exams and were a good guide to your prospects in the real thing.