My mum fought for the underdog all her life – and I was one of her biggest missions | Simon Hattenstone

From 1920s Salford to teaching disabled children, via a stint on an Israeli cooperative, Marje gave so many people hope

• What brought us hope and joy in 2023? Writers share their stories

Mum died earlier this month. It feels like years, and at the same time it feels as if it's not quite happened yet. Grief plays havoc with your sense of time. But my sister Sharon and I are lucky. There is so much to celebrate in Marje's long life, not least the hope she gave us in her final weeks.

To be fair, she had given me and so many others hope throughout her life. I've written about her before in the Guardian. Last year I interviewed her for a supplement about ageing. The headline was Bloody cheek, I'm not ageing". She was 94 at the time. Back then she gave me hope that the older you got, the funnier you could become.