It's my Granny's funeral day today. Because of the crematorium's busy schedule it has take three weeks from her passing to this day which has been both a blessing and a curse.
It's been nice to have lots of time to make careful arrangements. I am leading the funeral with support from my Reverend friend. I feel we have done our best to make this the send off which Granny would have wanted but it's been hard to wait so long to say our final goodbyes.
I have spent a lot of time communicating with our large family - something we don't do often - and it has brought back so many childhood memories previously relegated to the dark dusty corners of my mind.
I remember Granny scrubbing behind my ears with a nail brush muttering about potatoes and the day I finally couldn't resist the urge to touch her "hairy" cacti even though she had told me not to. The tiny spines irritated my fingers for hours.
We often took the train into Birmingham to go shopping. Me, Mum and Granny. Even back then food was a highlight of the day and after talking about it for hours we would inevitably end up at the same Chinese restaurant up a side street.
It was great when Granny came shopping as she would act as my ally when mum was not keen on coughing up for my latest "must have" purchase. And Granny often chipped in a bit to so I could have the shoes to go with my monochrome zig zag dress or whatever monstrosity I had fallen in love with at Tammy Girl.
After my Grandad died and she was getting less able to travel independently I took her with my sister to DisneyLand Paris. She did love Disney! It was as good as taking a small child and she did not let her wheelchair get in the way of her fun - we went on every ride possible.
I spoke to her frequently via Facebook or phone and we shared a fairly toilet-based sense of humour and a love of biscuits. I always rang her if the children got an award or did something else I thought might interest her (or I was bursting to have a proud mummy moment) and only the other day I wanted to call her to tall her about something.....and remembered I can't talk to her using my iPad or phone any more. I'll just have to talk to her in my head. I'm sure she's listening.
Sharp yet soft, sensible yet silly, my Granny was a complex woman and lost none of her mind right until the end. I am glad she is free from pain and fear now but I shall miss her so very, very much.
It's been nice to have lots of time to make careful arrangements. I am leading the funeral with support from my Reverend friend. I feel we have done our best to make this the send off which Granny would have wanted but it's been hard to wait so long to say our final goodbyes.
I have spent a lot of time communicating with our large family - something we don't do often - and it has brought back so many childhood memories previously relegated to the dark dusty corners of my mind.
I remember Granny scrubbing behind my ears with a nail brush muttering about potatoes and the day I finally couldn't resist the urge to touch her "hairy" cacti even though she had told me not to. The tiny spines irritated my fingers for hours.
We often took the train into Birmingham to go shopping. Me, Mum and Granny. Even back then food was a highlight of the day and after talking about it for hours we would inevitably end up at the same Chinese restaurant up a side street.
It was great when Granny came shopping as she would act as my ally when mum was not keen on coughing up for my latest "must have" purchase. And Granny often chipped in a bit to so I could have the shoes to go with my monochrome zig zag dress or whatever monstrosity I had fallen in love with at Tammy Girl.
After my Grandad died and she was getting less able to travel independently I took her with my sister to DisneyLand Paris. She did love Disney! It was as good as taking a small child and she did not let her wheelchair get in the way of her fun - we went on every ride possible.
I spoke to her frequently via Facebook or phone and we shared a fairly toilet-based sense of humour and a love of biscuits. I always rang her if the children got an award or did something else I thought might interest her (or I was bursting to have a proud mummy moment) and only the other day I wanted to call her to tall her about something.....and remembered I can't talk to her using my iPad or phone any more. I'll just have to talk to her in my head. I'm sure she's listening.
Sharp yet soft, sensible yet silly, my Granny was a complex woman and lost none of her mind right until the end. I am glad she is free from pain and fear now but I shall miss her so very, very much.
This might seem like an odd magic moment but remembering her and writing about her has been magical for me. Click the bunny to read more great blogs over at Oliver's Madhouse.