MY INDIA TRIP HELPED ME COPE WITH GRIEF

My life-changing moment (Cover story, Jan 5) came before I went on holiday. My eldest sister died just before I set off for three weeks in India, but the trip helped me cope with the loss.

I thought of cancelling but Gerda had always wanted to visit India and would have hated to spoil my chance of going, so in autumn 1988, in my heart and thoughts, she came with me.

It was the perfect place to visit; sitting alone on a rooftop overlooking the beauty of an Indian sunset, I watched the teeming messiness of everyday

Indian life being played out noisily below. Such vibrancy and vitality made me realise that life goes on no matter what and I felt a little of the raw edge of grief being smoothed off; through my tears, I thought, “Gerda would have loved it here”. JO MAGEE WINS A £250 RAIBOOKERS VOUCHER