Taking my mum to Italy helped us both grieve, and laugh, again

Metro’s travel editor takes her mother on holiday once a year for a reason (Picture: Alice Murphy)

There was a time when I thought my mother would never laugh again.

It would be an understatement to say that after my father’s death ended their enviably contented 43-year marriage, she lost her sparkle.

Our family GP suggested that a change of scenery could help with the grief. My mother, a sweet but steely Irishwoman in her 70s, did not agree.

But eventually, whether we want it to or not, time becomes a healer.

It has been almost four years since my father died.

And for the past three of those, I have managed to convince my mother to come on holiday with me: just once a year, just for a few days, and just, if we’re honest with ourselves, to shut me up.

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