The end of the year is a fitting time to reflect on our lives. For the first time in a long while, I spent December 25th alone with my mother and her husband. As my mum’s mind increasingly drifts away, most of the conversations now take place between him and me. I was six years old when my father left. After another failed marriage, my mother met him when I was ten. He has become the closest thing I have to a father. It wasn’t always easy. 1/3