Michael Palin shares how he is coping with grief after wife’s death

Michael Palin explains how he copes with grief after wife's deathToday, BBC Radio 4

Transcript

00:00 I needed to do something and I know that Helen would have wanted me to carry on working.

00:05 And I believe that you can't just stop and then retreat into the past.

00:08 You've got to look at the future, you've got to make something out of that.

00:11 And she was very positive and when we were together for 57 years we had a good time.

00:16 And you know, I still hear her laughing at me a lot when I'm saying stupid things on the radio or whatever.

00:23 "Don't do that again!"

00:25 And that's a very strong thing.

00:26 So her memory is there but I'm determined to go into the future and keep doing things

00:31 because I think that's what she would have wanted and it's the only thing that keeps me going really.

00:36 The loss I imagine is that every time you come across something you want to tell her about it.

00:41 Well, the loss is that you've got somebody,

00:44 you have somebody there who you didn't need to say anything to at all.

00:47 The communication comes with just a glance.

00:50 Whether we're with people or someone said something,

00:52 it'd be a little glance and that's all we needed to say.

00:55 And after 57 years that's like losing a little bit of your rudder on a ship, you know.

01:00 You're still going forward but slightly sideways.

01:03 You're not quite sure where you are at the moment.