MY RELATIONSHIP with you has changed over the years. Initially I wrote 12 columns about Father for the Tizer which we called In Sickness and in Health.

At their conclusion I was invited to continue writing, and the column eventually morphed into Anne’s Meanderings.

It wasn’t until I started writing from France I pretended I was composing a letter to my family… and somehow this device liberates me to write what I write, the way I write.

And so I came to share my travelling experiences – good, bad, and ridiculous – with you all.

Life ain’t always a rose-tinted merry-go-round, and writing from France I decided neither should this column be. If I appreciate honesty in others then logic informs me I should avoid pretence – after all, we’re in this mortal coil together – and so often it’s from one another’s experiences we learn.

On completion of my last column I e-mailed it off to the editor, then decided it might be prudent to have that morning’s frequent visual disturbances (brilliant white flickering lights from the back of my right eye) checked out.

To cut a long story short, posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) has been diagnosed. There is no accompanying retinal tear – which there can be and which would have required urgent surgery. I’ve since experienced two further episodes – once with more sheet-lightning and the other with bright flashes like sparklers.

With each episode enormous new floaters appeared – which I can see through – but which wriggle and writhe like pulsating jelly-fish/screen savers. Sent to an NHS eye clinic, I drew what I was seeing.

The consultant said he could see the floaters as I’d drawn them… I can still read the bottom line on eye charts.

It’s been entirely painless. The not-great news is that the giant floaters ( I’ve experienced floaters for over 50 years which I realise are mere tadpoles to these whales) are irritating.

Friends assume it must be awful, but I’ve given myself a stiff talking to.

There’s nothing to be done – and one of the large floaters has started to break up into smaller segments which are moving out of my main line of vision, which is encouraging.

Things are settling down.

When I was six my nain (grandmother) came to live with us.

Always willing to play board games or cards with me, she was a comforting presence, and dear confidante. As her eyesight deteriorated games were replaced by conversation.

Father encouraged me to make Nain my first port of call when I came home from school – so she would feel valued. Which she was.

Latterly, she would take my face tenderly between her hands drawing me towards her in an attempt to see me more clearly.

Ironically, I’d given a talk to a local Visually Impaired Club the day before vitreous jelly started detaching from the back of my eye. They were a great group. Plenty of conversation and laughter.

If my sight should deteriorate further things will seem less bleak thanks to them, and my dear nain.

– It’s important for anyone experiencing dark spots/shapes with flashing lights to see an optician or ophthalmologist within 24 hours.

Ten per cent of people with PVD experience retinal detachment which needs prompt treatment to prevent sight loss.