They were so young, our parents, when we were first cupped in their hands.

And yet I see from these photos that my father’s presence was a comforting thing for me.

In a brand new world, his quiet ‘thereness’ gave me something that I needed and something that has been sustaining.

There was nothing akin to that from my mother, whose presence was dazzling in its way, but essentially empty.

We were all dazzled. Stripping that away is the work of many years.