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name “Na-kamon”’ which means “abiding in love”. Grandpa liked the prefix “Na”. My name has a “Na” too. Grandpa wanted us to have names that matched.’
    Mother’s name was Na-patra. Grandpa said that meant ‘abiding in virtue’.
    ‘At that time Grandpa and Grandma hadn’t moved to the house on the water. Grandpa was crazy about you; actually, everyone was crazy about you. Uncle Dong was over the moon. I’d never known him to pay any attention to children before this but he was so besotted with you that he actually left his work to come and sit by your crib, and of course, he and Grandma ended up fighting over you. Look at this! The photo of your first haircut when you were a month old. And here’s the certificate with your name on it, from your naming ceremony. Grandpa’s handwriting was so beautiful, we had it framed.’
    It seemed as though the day had been a happy one even though one person was conspicuously absent from all the photographs, one person who was not even mentioned.
    Mother’s bedroom looked out over the sea. In the afternoon the sea receded so far you could hardly see it. Grandpa said that if you wanted to swim at this hour, you’d have to call a taxi to get you there. The side walls of the house were big glass windows; through them you could see the big frangipani tree with its yellow-and white flowers sending forth their sweet scent. Grandma didn’t like the tree at all. She said that in the olden days it was bad luck to have a frangipani near your home. Grandpa muttered that this was a resort, not a home. He would have grafted a branch to take back to plant in the garden of the house on the water, except Grandma would probably explode with indignation.
    ‘I’d just moved back to Bangkok. We were living in a condominium right in the centre of the city, just the two of us. I was lucky. Everyone wanted to help look after you. Here, this one’s of your first birthday. And here’s Aunt Da as well. Aunt Da was a trainee in our office right from when she was a student. When she graduated she came to work for me. You’ve liked her ever since you first met, so I knew I’d chosen the right person as my assistant.’
    Kati thought she looked funny almost completely bald. Mother had obviously been worried about her daughter’s appearance as she’d fastened a little bow on a wisp of hair on top of her head, and after that Kati sported the same little bow in every photo. Kati found it very entertaining.
    Mother paused at intervals to draw in a breath from a tube that was connected to her BiPAP machine. ALS made her muscles so weak that in the end they became useless. Not only her leg and arm muscles but, far more dangerously, the muscles in her lungs had stopped working, including the muscles that inflated her chest to take in air. Now the BiPAP machine pumped air into Mother’s lungs so she could get all the oxygen she needed. When she was asleep she wore a mask but in the daytime she could just draw on the tube whenever she had difficulty breathing.
    ‘This snap was taken when we were all on holiday in Singapore. You were about three years old. I went there to work, so Uncle Dong dragged Kunn along too. Uncle Kunn didn’t study law like me but we were in the same tennis club at college. I was in my third year when Kunn came in his first year. No, Uncle Dong was never a tennis player but he liked to mix with the tennis crowd and watch the young guys play.’ Mother laughed. ‘Some day I’ll find you the photo of Uncle Dong and Uncle Kunn and me when we were all students together. Aunt Da saw it – and nearly died laughing!’
    Mother had been so happy with life and her friends, and Kati had clearly been loved by all as the old photos showed.
    Kati turned the pages till she came to the middle of the album and was puzzled to find it had only been half filled. What was even stranger was that the last two photos were of Kati alone in a pose that wasn’t funny at all.
    ‘Grandma