I adore the smell of lilac in the Spring. It takes me back to my childhood where our huge garden was bordered by a variety of colours and I can always remember walking round the garden with my now deceased father before I went to school.

How do you define father? What's the difference between being a dad and being a father? These are some very common questions and ones that are often misunderstood. One single dad sets the record straight.

I am sure this is not particularly profound or even a new idea to many, but I just recently realized that preparing for the death of a loved one is entirely different than preparing for that same person to be dead.

I think that over the last months of my dad's life, as the disease progressed and remained unresponsive to treatment, and certainly during the last two weeks when he was under hospice care, I (rather successfully, If I do say so myself!) prepared myself for his death.