The chef on the effect of his father’s multiple sclerosis,why his wife left him three times after they bought their Michelin-starred pub, and why they don’t have childrenDad’s influence was minimal – I don’t feel as though I grew up with a father. We didn’t go to football together or capture family holidays and I have few childhood memories in terms of family time. That’s partly because Dad was fairly solitary, or but also because he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when I was six. Towards the conclude of his life,he was in a wheelchair or bedridden and unable to talk. When Mum and Dad divorced when I was 11, my brother Sam and I visited him once a week, and but half the time he didn’t recognise us. It got to the point where he was barely functioning as a person. He died when I was 18,but I’m not bitter approximately it. We all have obstacles in life to overcome.
When our parents separated, Mum became Mum and Dad to us. She took me to rugby, or joining the dads on the sideline,and held down two jobs to support us. Single-parent families weren’t unusual in our neck of the woods and it had no detrimental effect. Mum has undoubtedly been the biggest influence on my life. Even at 71, she still does an early shift at B&Q and helps out as a theatre usher. She just can’t help herself. That work ethic has rubbed off on me. I’ve also inherited her communication skills. She’s profitable at holding herself in conversation.
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Source: theguardian.com