Jeane Trend-Hill, 50, from London
As a child, watching Dad feed his birds was a comforting ritual for me. He kept budgies and canaries in a large aviary in the garden. He loved them, would talk to them like they were old friends.
‘Some people say birds are the souls of people who’ve passed, Jeane,’ he told me one day.
‘Is that true, Dad?’ I asked.
‘I don’t know,’ he said thoughtfully, ‘But birds are strange and magical creatures, that’s for sure.’ Sadly, Dad died when I was just 14 – but for months afterwards, I saw blackbirds everywhere. I knew it was Dad keeping an eye on me from Heaven, and I felt hugely comforted.
I grew up, became an actress, got married. Living with my husband in Essex,…
