The Baynhams

Saying goodbye was an inevitable part of our trip. For all the joys of seeing friends and family came the sadness of the final hug, the promises to stay in touch, to ring more, email more, to meet again before too long. Part of my job as a mum was not to protect my kids from the sadness of goodbyes but to make sure that they were all coping in their own ways with the emotions they were going through.

Rhiannon has a sensitive heart. When she is sad she goes quiet. She melts into the background and the danger is that she will go unnoticed and won't talk about how she feels unless asked.

Out of all of us Rhiannon bonded the deepest with Julie's dog Harvey. It's like they communicated silently. Most evenings she sat next to him on the floor stroking his belly absent-mindedly as he dozed, every so often he'd open an eye to check she was still there. On the last day they were both very quiet. It was hard to put my finger on it but both of them seemed to sense that goodbye was creeping closer.

After Rhiannon had finished packing her bags she went off to find Harvey who had gone to sit in his chair in the corner. She sat there with him quietly, forehead to forehead. Quiet moods and sad eyes.

This photo speaks volumes. It sums up the mood of the final day in Wales. Julie says that Harvey was out of sorts for days after we left, pacing the rooms we had stayed in and sitting in his chair watching out the window...

Someone over here misses you too Harvey. She doesn't say much but I can hear it in her silence...