ABSTRACT
Source: Bennett, A. Telling Tales. London: BBC Worldwide Ltd, 2000. Reproduced by permission.
My parents’ names are Lilian and Walter, Lil and Walt as they call each other. Except that they don’t very often, particularly after my brother and I are born, which somehow puts paid to their names. When we come along, Walter and Lilian are buried and thereafter they are almost always called Mam and Dad, not merely by us, but by each other, their names deferring to their function as parents.
