I knew mine was. We’d had a thing for each other since we were 17 and first met on the staircase of Oxford college where he had won a place from Wigan Grammar School to read music. A 25-year friendship-cum-romance ensued until we finally got together for good.
His drinking brought us together initially, by disinhibiting us, and also kept us apart. It was too much, it scared me. Yes Robert was charismatic, handsome, prodigiously talented, kind and witty, but he was also…