WHEN ROBINS APPEAR

When Zoe Bourn, 43, from Buckinghamshire, discovered her mum's diary, she was determined to fulfil her dying wishes...

- HANNAH CROCKER

Watching from the side of the stage as my husband Andrew sang, I felt a pang of pride.

His vocal harmony group Jack Pack had come fourth in Britain's Got Talent and even signed a record deal with Simon Cowell.

The next morning, we went out for breakfast with my mum Julie to celebrate-she was so proud of him, too.

Nothing could wipe the smile off of her face.

It was extremely bittersweet though.

Because Mum had been suffering with an incurable brain tumour for the past six years.

She'd been diagnosed in 2008, after suffering with neck spasms that came on suddenly.

Then she started getting headaches, too.

None of us were too worried at first-Mum had always been fit and healthy.

She went back and forth to see her GP for about a year.

After 18 months of pushing for further investigations, she was finally referred by her GP for tests.

They're just doing some basic checks, Mum told me and my sister Dani, 46.

We knew she was holding things back from us, but that was typical Mum-she never wanted us to worry, and only told us the limited details she felt we needed to know.

But it didn't stop Dani and me being concerned about her.

Thankfully, Mum's partner of 23 years, our stepdad Paul, was by her side constantly, and went with her to every appointment.

Living in London, while Mum lived by the coast in Bournemouth, I only saw her every six weeks or so-but we stayed in touch daily, chatting for hours on the phone.

When Mum was eventually diagnosed with a brain tumour, in April 2008, we were all devastated.

She was just 56.

'It's a meningioma,' Mum said. 'It's benign, but they're not able to operate on it."

It was right on her brain stem, almost at the centre of her skull.

A lot of people hear the word benign and breathe a sigh of relief at least it's not cancer.