This chapter describes Roald Dahl's childhood experiences with grief and loss. It begins by recounting how his oldest sister Astri and father both died from illnesses when he was young, leaving his mother to raise 5 children alone. His mother refused help and decided to send the children to school in England, as their father had wanted. Dahl then shares two memories of his own - the confusion and sadness he felt when learning of his grandfather's death at age 6, and the grief of his family when his mother miscarried years later. The chapter establishes the death and hardship Dahl experienced in his early years.