[Margaret Pilkington]

I'm sorry to hear of the death of your friend.......and it is normal in situations like this to reflect back on things you wish you had done......like the fishing trip.

My enduring regrets(I have two of them) relate to the death of my father.
He died some 20 years ago and although I would never say we were close(well, not in a touchy, feely sort of way) I think of him every day.
He died ten days after being diagnosed with a very aggressive form of lung cancer(yes he was a smoker).
Ma didn't want him to be told of his diagnosis - so he wasn't. This made it practically impossible to tell him all the things I wish I had told him. I think he knew he was dying, but dying was never mentioned - as a nurse, this felt very dishonest to me...but I could not go against Ma's wishes.

My second regret was not going with my mother and my sister to Ronda in Spain(a place he loved) to scatter his ashes. I told them I couldn't take time off work(I never asked for time off - if I had, I'm sure I would have got it)...but the reality was, I was a coward and felt I couldn't deal with the emotions that such a trip would entail.