END of days

Nina Roberts, 52, from Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire

My eyes lit up as Dad handed me a wodge of cash.

‘Buy yourself something nice for your 18th birthday, Nina,’ he said, beaming.

It was so like my lovely dad to treat me to a generous present. He was a caring family man who doted on his children.

And I knew exactly what I was going to buy with my birthday money.

I had my eye on a gold ring with a black onyx stone.

I’d seen the ring in Debenhams a few months earlier. I was just drawn to this piece of jewellery.

My birthday is on 19 December, a week before Christmas, and my parents