Update

My father has been in hospital since Monday; he is lucid now, but frail, bed-bound, and so forth: the medical advice is that he go into a nursing home, since he cannot be looked after by one person at home any longer.  In a strange way, now the difficult decision is taken out of our hands, this comes as a certain relief from worry: he will be cared for and kept safe from harm.

It has been a tiring and trying week.

(Many, many thanks for the kind emails sent me about this family crisis.)