She only died two years ago, at the age of 96.
There was the time when my father was converting the loft and after a particularly enthusiastic bout of hammering the plaster ceiling fell down on the landing.
My mother poked her head out of the living room, having heard the tremendous crash, saw the mess, and went out for a stroll while it was cleared up.
When the terrible Goddess and I first got married, we lived in a room at my parents' for a little while. We never had a cross word with mum and dad but I felt an awful sense of frustration that we didn't have our own space. I completely lost it one day and kicked the wall as hard as I could. Luckily it was only lathe and plaster and my foot went straight through and out the other side.
My mother heard the kerfuffle [I was nearly having hysterics], quietly opened the door to our room - and suggested I went for a walk.
It's a system that works very well. I suppose it's the fight or flight thing. It gets you back into the proper relationship with the world.
The TG uses this method as well. If there is a problem she goes for a power walk and usually manages to come back feeling better equipped to deal with whatever the problem is.
The ultimate walk in my family was taken by my father.
He worked in the family business owned by his father-in-law, a glorified newsagent and small publisher up in the city of London (That's the financial district). There were disagreements about how things should be done.
He had to make a very difficult decision - the financial implications of resigning would be significant and there would be relationship problems to sort out on my mother's side of the family.
He got up one morning, packed a small bag, called to Tessa the dog 'Walkies' and went off to see his brother. We lived in SE London and my uncle lived in South Wales.
He set off with no planning at all. He stopped off at B&B establishments that he stumbled upon and arrived in Wales after about a week, having walked all the way. I think he came back by train.
He had made his decision whilst thinking when walking and with the full support of my mum, he resigned.
The only work he could get was as a clerk in a shipping firm, which meant there had to be a lot of changes one way and another.
It was the correct choice to make for his own mental well-being and consequently for his wife and two sons.
Selfishly, I was delighted. He used to be out of the house at 4 a.m. and didn't get back 'til 6 p.m. I saw a lot more of him when he had an 'ordinary' job and he wasn't asleep for most of the weekend.
Walking is good - apart from the obvious physical health benefits, it helps clear the mind and makes us see things more clearly.
