"Phone your mother: she's also a person."

Nearly 11 years have passed since I last broke my own rule and wrote in this place about something deeply personal. Then, in the summer of 2001, it was the birth of my first child and the article was a hymn of praise for the National Health Service that had ushered my son into the world.   Today I write about my mother, who died 10 days ago.    

This is the opening to a short and moving piece by Jonathan Freedland in today’s Guardian.  Continue reading here.   

And you can read the article Jonathan Freedland wrote in June 2001, about another very personal experience he had with the NHS, and his advice to the Prime Minister at the time.  It is here: