A note from my mum stirs my memory of her more than a photograph ever could

‘Mum was forever writing us little notes, cards and letters – often out of the blue to express her parental pride at some minor (or perceived) achievement.’ Photograph: carlosgaw/Getty Images

Some things you only learn with the hindsight of loss and the significant passage of time.

One of them for me is that photographs of family and friends who have died fail to stir my memories of them in quite the same way as encounters with their written words.