My Mother, Coral Esme Naylor Radford, was 46 years old when much to her surprise, she conceived Yvonne. Yvonne was born on October 10, 1944 in Chesterfield Maternity Hospital. I was not at home when she was born as I was working in London at the time. In 1945, I was back living at home when I was called up into the British Army. I never really got to know my very much younger sister until much later in life. As there was 17 years between us I was almost like a third parent at the time. Yvonne was a very quiet child and she was my Mom's favourite. Yvonne liked the song "I'm a lonely little petunia in an onion patch" so my nickname for her was "onions".

In 1952, I left England for Australia. Yvonne was seven years old at the time. She was quite sure that because I had signed on with the Australian Army for six years that she would see my again in six years. Little did she know that it would be 15 years before she saw me again. I had saved up my furlough so I could visit my sister Pauline in Canada and also be able to travel to the UK to visit my sister Margaret, my sister Yvonne and their families. By this time, 1967, Yvonne was married and had two toddlers, Jamie, Grant and was expecting Sara. I hardly recognized this grown woman, now a wife and mother as the little sister I had left behind in 1952.

There was another break in close contact after the 1967 visit until after I moved to Canada in 1983. The same year, Yvonne travelled to Canada with her young son, Adam, for a family wedding. After the wedding, I drove Yvonne and Adam to Burlington, Ontario to visit some friends. I remember giving the camera to Yvonne as we drove on the express lanes through Toronto. 12 lanes across and extremely fast traffic! Only when we were through the city did I tell Yvonne that it was my very first time driving through the area. I think she was just about ready to knock me out for doing that to her. During her stay in Canada I really got to know her well and we have kept in close touch ever since.

She was a demanding lady; she wanted things done right, from pressing a pair of trousers to making a meal. She and her two sisters loved a good argument and were often falling out with each other. As Grant said after she died, "I bet Mom is up there now arguing with Pauline and Margaret". There was always one on the outs with the others. Luckily being the only man of the siblings I kept my peace and was friends with all of them.

She enjoyed traveling and had some good cruise trips with Pauline. She has been to Majorca with Jamie and family. She also visited the United States with Grant when he was driving over there. Another time she came over with Margaret and stayed at Pauline's home. For a week of their holiday here, Brenda and I took them to New Hampshire. We had a trip up Mount Washington on the cog railway. It was one of the warmest days ever on the summit. Usually it is hot at the bottom and snowing at the top. We had such beautiful views and a memorable visit. We stayed in the valley at North Conway – the shopping Mecca for any shopaholics – and the two sisters were both interested in shopping. They came back with loaded suitcases and I don't know how they managed to get it all on the plane.

She came to Canada for the last time two years ago. She came in May, 2012 and spent two weeks with us. She even helped us look after a friend's dog kennel for a few days. She loved animals. Then she said that she had never spent Christmas with her big brother and it was something she wanted to do. So she came back in December, 2012 and spent another three weeks with us. We went North of Montreal into the Laurentian Mountains to my step-daughter Micheline’s cottage. Yvonne loved it there. She sat reading by the wood fire and said "This is the life for me". It was a beautiful day, cold but sunny with the snow hanging on the evergreens and Yvonne was amazed at how beautiful it looked.

As you can see our relationship only developed when we were older when the age gap no longer made any difference, then we were close friends as well as siblings. I will always remember Yvonne for her caustic wit, her lively mind and her argumentative streak. But above all she was loving and caring, proud of her children and all of her grand-children. She would not want us to be sad but rather that we should recall all the happy times we have had together.