Talking about death with your parents is a conversation everyone dreads, but my mum Patsy wanted that chat with me – and learning what she wants to happen to her body after she's gone came as a shock.
Even in the darkest hours when she had bowel cancer a few years ago, I tried to avoid thinking about what it would mean to actually lose mum.
But, at 86, she sat me down to tell me she wants to donate her body to medical science after she dies.
Mum is certain she wants to be one of the 1,300 UK people every year whose bodies are donated to education as she feels without donors, the doctors of tomorrow won't get the experience they need.
When mum told me she'd been already in touch with a university and everything was arranged, I was torn between admiration and confusion.
