2 JUNE 2007, Page 28

No Interruptions

I cannot wholly decide about my father's resolve not to speak or seek out texts or make arrangements except perhaps to the pillow and the blankets.

Was it for him, or for us, or was he 'in denial' when he preferred to drift and doze to music or ambient conversation as if some unusual act would make the thing too real?

That adherence to routine, The Times and the radio, was it because the stream of time remained too precious to interrupt early, as when he waited for the concert to end before unfolding himself from the car?

Stephen Romer