Last Will and Testament

21st February 2012 Tuesday

10 am My sister and I are waiting in a room lined with floor to ceiling bookcases full of huge old books, all the same buff colour, with tattered spines dating back to the 1850s. We are at the Law Courts in Exeter, here to sign papers for the probate of my father’s estate. When it’s our turn we each have to hold a copy of the bible, read a square laminated sheet of paper -

I swear by Almighty God that this is my name and handwriting......

and confirm that we have seen the last will and testament of my father.

The words sound so final - like a felled oak tree crashing to the ground.

We decide the occasion requires some kind of marking. How to celebrate this marvellous legacy which our parents will be leaving us - their four children? We choose Carluccios and toast them all with tiny cups of velvet hot chocolate and sharp lemon tarts. And then go our separate ways, heads down into the cold, cutting wind.