It was the near-constant droning of the washing machine that first tipped Emily Harris off to the fact that something was wrong with her mother.
Each time Emily, 31, went over to her mum Andrea’s house in Droitwich, Worcestershire, the appliance was running – morning or night.
Even stranger, the drum would often contain just one item of clothing: a T-shirt, skirt or even a single sock.
Raising four children – all while working full-time as a nurse – Andrea, then 56, had always had to be a bit of an ‘organisational freak,’ says Emily.
‘She was the first one up in the morning,
To provide well-rounded coverage and a breadth of insight across various events, we rely on contributions from several staff writers, each bringing their own area of expertise to our publication.