All her life my mother has been very good with money and accounts. She worked for Barclays before moving on to do book keeping for Italian mosaic supplier, running the finance for her husbands and sons companies. She even worked for over 20 years for NHS in trust finds making sure the right people in Birmingham hospitals got the money they needed.

I believe all of her immediate family are indebted to her to survive life's economic curves. I know for sure I do but also  my mother said before he passed that he lucked in with marrying my mother as she was so good with money!

Mom's sharp mind stayed with her until the very end. She kept her latest bank statements in her handbag and  even put the handbag in her walking trolley every night when she went to bed. She even took it to the hospital. When she went into hospital in May she would not leave the house without her handbag full stop. When I saw her in hospital I had to empty it as not a good idea to have bank statements in hospital. I took a whole pile of them out. What summed up my mother was they were all recent weekly statements and in order. She clearly kept even her bank statements in her handbag in good order!

Of course she was prepared for anything as she also had a few bottles of Angina tablets, a small mobile and a torch!