'If it's the last thing I do.....'

I wrote a year ago about some lovely Roland Cartier shoes I had bought for mum in a charity shop in Edinburgh. She never had a pair of Roland Cartier shoes in her life as they were expensive and posh.

When I saw these perfect, navy suede with chic gold heel trim shoes in the shop window I couldn't resist them. I couldn't believe either that they were size 3! So I bought them. The shop assistant said I could change them if they didn't fit, which was kind. Seems a bit harsh buying something in a charity shop then demanding a refund when they don't fit, and I couldn't see me carting them all the way back to Edinburgh.

Mum's eyes lit up when she saw them. Slipping her own shoes off quickly, she tried them on. 'Oh, they are beautiful!', she said, and they were.

But they didn't fit. They were too small. I can't remember mum ever trying on shoes that were too small for her tiny feet, but these were. Well, the left one was, because her ankle was always swollen due to her heart condition.

'I'll work on them,' she said. 'I'll get them on if it's the last thing I do.'

I couldn't persuade her that they could be taken back to the charity shop next time I went to Edinburgh and someone else could enjoy them instead. She refused to part with them.

So, on a couple of occasions I visited mum and I could see she was wearing the shoes in the house to try and stretch the left one to fit her. But it wouldn't. It was a whole size too small for her. But it was her project, to get that shoe to fit.

When mum died and we were planning her funeral service I asked the lady who was preparing mum for her final journey to make her look lovely and smart, just as she was throughout her life. I took a nice smiley photo of mum and explained how she liked her hair done. I chose her nicest outfit and a slinky slip to go under it.

She would certainly look her best in the crystal earrings, blue jacket, tartan skirt, freshly coiffed hair, and her usual perfume - 'Timeless' by Avon.

I told the lady about mum's Roland Cartier shoes.

'She said she would get them on if it was the last thing she did,' I told her. 'But if they won't go on now, please can she take them with her anyway?'

The lady was so kind, and when we went to say goodbye to mum for the last time, she whispered gently to me, 'Your mum is wearing her Roland Cartier shoes.'