‘Gain a child, lose a tooth’, my mother, trained as a teacher, had seven children (eldest daughter, second child here) and was a widow too early. She cut our hair, made our clothes and exquisite toys, decorated our houses, baked every day for years when money was tight and had an open door policy to other children and folks. She taught us to read before school, dug out the books when we wanted to learn something new and distributed solid (and not always welcome) advice. I’m o