Colin \u2018Corky\u2019 Yates lived alone; alone enough for a ten-year-old boy. Since his mother\u2019s death two years earlier, dinner was prepared by the housekeeper, and he spent his evenings doing homework, listening to the radio, and waiting for his father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Corky didn\u2019t mind. He just missed his mum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One evening, while doing his homework with the radio on, he paused as the announcer signed off, \u201cIf you have a problem, get in touch with Doctor Parkham, on \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He jotted the number down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The next night, he rang, and another voice answered the call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCity Radio Advice Line,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got a homework problem, and need some help.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh, honey, we don\u2019t do that sort of advice,\u201d she said. \u201cCan\u2019t your parents help you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy mum died in an accident, and my dad works long hours.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh dear. Tell you what, I\u2019ll call back. My name\u2019s Helen Adams.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWould you? That would be great.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The phone rang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They talked for an hour, working through his homework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Helen\u2019s calls carried him into his teens, even advising on icepacks for bruises, comfort for grief, and, latterly, advice on girls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNever take the easy way out,\u201d she\u2019d say. \u201cKeep digging until you find the answer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His father remarried, and Corky moved to a new town, excelling at school and eventually studying medicine at a university hospital in the capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He established a career as a surgeon and never returned to the village until one day, he attended a conference in a nearby city. Getting off the train, he walked to his hotel and passed by the offices of City Radio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He decided, \u201cYes, why not?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At reception, he slid his card across the desk. The words \u201cDoctor Colin Yates\u201d always drew a better response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMay I speak to Helen Adams? It\u2019s a personal matter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d the receptionist said. \u201cShe\u2019s no longer with us. Unfortunately, she passed two weeks ago.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m so sorry to hear that,\u201d he gasped. \u201cYou should be proud of Mrs Adams; she helped me when I was a boy. Without her, I would not be where I am now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s Miss Adams. Never married,\u201d the receptionist replied. \u201cWait a minute, are you Corky?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes, I am, well, I was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe left this,\u201d she said, reaching into her drawer and handing him an envelope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The letter said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI knew you\u2019d be back. You\u2019re that sort of boy. Thank you for those years on the telephone. We never met, but you gave me something I never had\u2014someone to love. It\u2019s too late now; my illness has progressed past the point of no return.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve followed your career, and I\u2019m incredibly proud of you. Regrettably, I must go against my own advice and take the easy way out; it has become too much to bear. Take care, my only \u2018son\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Helen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Choking, Corky pocketed the letter, stepped into the sunlight, and wiped his tears away, joy and despair weaving through him, a fragile tapestry of release.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Colin \u2018Corky\u2019 Yates lived alone; alone enough for a ten-year-old boy. Since his mother\u2019s death two years earlier, dinner was prepared by the housekeeper, and he spent his evenings doing homework, listening to the radio, and waiting for his father. Corky didn\u2019t mind. He just missed his mum. One evening, while doing his homework with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"no","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10158782359051062_103813597863211":"","twitter_1225722811282530305_1225722811282530305":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[{"account":"facebook_10158782359051062_103813597863211","service":"facebook","timestamp":1756904971,"status":"success"},{"account":"twitter_1225722811282530305_1225722811282530305","service":"twitter","timestamp":1756904972,"status":"error"}],"rop_publish_now_status":"done","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1490,1711],"tags":[277,1710,1709,1501,1708,8,596,20,927,12,1396,1706,1707,9,14],"class_list":["post-2493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1490","category-sept-2025-the-easy-way-out","tag-adams","tag-advice","tag-city","tag-colin","tag-corky","tag-he","tag-helen","tag-his","tag-homework","tag-my","tag-phone","tag-radio","tag-rang","tag-said","tag-she"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbrNJE-Ed","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2493"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2494,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2493\/revisions\/2494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swanseawriterscircle.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}