My Memories of Nana – when I was 16!!

The text below is taken from a piece of course work I wrote in November 1988 for my GCSE English (I’ve just found it in the loft). I’ve not changed any of it, but I thought it was an interesting insight into my feelings not long after Nana died (she died in 1981).

Gee – for some reason I didn’t write ‘Gee’, not sure why!

My memories of Nana November 1988

Nana had been ill for a few years or at least as long as could remember.

When I was young she had lived in Cheshire near us, and every few days, we’d travel on the train to see her. She was a fit old lady who I loved more than anyone in the world. She owned a large German Shepherd named “Lara”. Lara needed a long walk every day and so I really enjoyed going for walks with Nana and Lara.

When I was six Nana became ill, she had trouble breathing so had to stop walking Lara. Nana began to get worse and worse until she had problems walking about.

When I was eight my Dad got a new job which meant moving to Gloucester. We bought a large expensive house with a cottage joined on. Within a couple of months the cottage which had been derelict was done up and looked really good.

Downstairs was a large lounge with beautiful furniture and a small kitchen and then upstairs was a bedroom and bathroom. I love the cottage and would have like to have lived there myself. But something even better happened, Nana moved in. I couldn’t have been happier, except that Nana’s health was getting worse.

Every morning before school I’d go and say good morning and as soon as I got home I’d go straight in and watch television and drink tea with her.

When I was nine Nana became very ill and couldn’t leave her bed. Every spare moment was spent with her, making her cups of tea and telling her about school and my growing interest in boys!! I told her about my first boyfriend ‘Simon’ and she helped me with my homework.

Nana became my best friend and I began to find it hard to imagine life without her. Yet I knew she was going to die and it wasn’t going to be long.

Although nobody spoke to me about death I was sure it would come for Nana any day soon, I watched her getting weaker day be day.

Everyday I hurriedly dressed and washed ready to see her before I left and in the evening rushed home to see her. Although I have a younger brother I was the favourite in Nana’s eyes as she had known me longer and this made us much closer. Richard (my brother) was only about six years old and so didn’t fully understand what was going on, he loved Nana too and really I think he believed she would get better soon.

One night I got home and it seemed all the family had come to stay, my mum’s sister and her husband ‘Maggie and John’ and their children and Nana’s sister ‘Pat’. I guessed something was wrong. What if Nana had died and I hadn’t said goodbye?

I raced into the cottage and up the stairs, next to Nana’s bed sat my mother and Maggie. I stood in the doorway silently thinking. Suddenly Nana opened her eyes and without looking called me over. It was as if she could feel that I was there even if she couldn’t see me. She called me over to her side.

I knelt by the bed listening to her uneven breathing, after a few minutes Nana reached for my hand and kissed it, then whispered ‘I love you’, she then went back to sleep. I’d never been so happy, I went to bed tired and worried but happy.

I woke early the next morning and lay in bed listening, I could hear people moving about and talking downstairs but I couldn’t make out what they were saying.

At 8 o’clock my Mum came up with a cup of tea and I started to get ready for school. In the bathroom I could hear someone having a bath.

I left for school at 8.45 after having a big argument with my parents about going to see Nana, they wouldn’t let me and I didn’t know why. I ended up being very late for school.

I got no work done all that day because I was worrying and thinking about Nana. What had happened?

I rushed home from school to a silent house. In the dining room sat my Mum crying, I know then why I was not allowed to see my Nana that morning. I sat on the table next to my Mum and cried, crying until my eyes dried up. My aunt Maggie and Great aunt Pat joined us for about an hour and a half.

Nana had died in her sleep in the early hours of the morning, my Mum and aunt had been with her. I suddenly felt lonely and lost, I could really believe that she was finally gone.

Later that evening my aunt came and gave me a solid silver necklace that was to have been my Christmas present from Nana, that was when I knew that Nana had died happy.

The whole family went to the funeral without me and the rest of the children, after that the rest of the family went home. But not for long as it was so close to Christmas, so they came back for the Christmas week.

It was a reasonably happy Christmas, but we were constantly thinking of Nana. We are all still missing her now and I often wonder what my life would have been like if I’d had the influence of Nana.

The loss of Nana was a massive blow to my life in many ways but the main was the fact that I’d lost my grandmother. I never met either of my grandfathers as one died of a heart attack just before I was born and the other died long before I was born. I do still have one grandmother left, on my father’s side. But I am afraid to say I don’t see her often and we really don’t get on at all.

I hope if I have children my parents will be good grandparents.

Muddy holes

From Reader’s Digest (April 2006) –

It took five years at university to become an archaeologist and I am proud of my job. It’s just a pity not everyone appreciates it.

My colleague and I were on a dig in a local town when a woman walked by with her son. Seeing us in our hole, covered in mud with pickaxes in hand, the mother told her youngster, “See what happens if you don’t work hard at school? You’ll end up like them.”

Nicholas Marquez-Grant, Ibiza

Says it all really about the public perception of archaeology and archaeologists!!

29th September 2006 10:35

Poop

Today I got the following email from my beloved -

“Poop,

I was going to have shreddies this morning but there weren’t
any…you would have thought that people who ate other people’s
cereal would at least make sure they are replaced when they run
out,

poop”

- I’m the shreddie stealer, but I couldn’t replace them as I left for Gloucestershire about 1/2 hour after eating them.

Anyway, the email made me laugh!

The subconscious mind….

Dreams are odd things, last night I had a very vivid dream about water leaking through the ceiling in the office at Mum’s house, part of the plaster fell off the ceiling. I tried calling Dad who was completely useless and then Mike Stuart, who was even more useless – in the end I managed to turn the water off (although by that time the water had stopped and the damage was done) via a big red tap under the sink in the kitchen and another tap in the garage.

The next thing I knew I was setting up a bed in the garage, all the junk and rubbish had gone from the garage and it was very homely!!

Rude chickens!

I can’t comment directly on Shibashi-Em’s blog (something to do with the fact that I’m on a newer version of Blogger), but I wanted to say something regarding her discussion with Gary about why chickens can’t fly “Why can’t chickens fly and other drunken ponderings” dated Tuesday, September 26th.

So, I wanted to say that I’m disappointed in the use of a rude word, I’d thought better of her. Please in future remember the word is ‘chests’ – ‘chicken chests’, goodness me what will we have next…..bulls testicles no doubt?

Bastards!

Colin will laugh (well he would if he ever read my blog – he says he’s not interested in the slightest), but I can’t get to Flickr.

I’m down at Mum’s having a final sort out before we let the house to Susy for 6 months and the only internet access I have is via my work PC and dial up – and the bastards have blocked Flickr!

It’s midnight – I shouldn’t be working (even though I am!), so it can’t be on the grounds of distraction from work. Actually now I think about it I know why, there is porn on Flickr – not that I’ve ever seen it. In order to see porn you would have to go looking (which I never have), and most of that kind of stuff is in invite only groups – but still it’s there, and so are rude words which would show up on a filter.

Oh well, at least I can still blog.

Naughty Colin

Hadn’t cleaned the sink since I was away down south! YUK!!

Drugs II

Following on from my earlier blog about Mum’s drugs I thought I’d post a photo of the collection we had accumulated by the time she died.

I was amazed that although some of these are ‘controlled’ drugs (had to be booked in and out by the nurses), once Mum had gone we were left with them, able to do whatever we wanted with them. Since many of the boxes had never been opened we thought that if we returned them to the pharmacy they would be recycled or at least sent overseas where drugs are in short supply – oh no! they were all distroyed.

Back to work

Although I went back to work last week, today was by first day in the office. It’s 7pm and I’ve just got back from York and I seem to have a mountain of things to do!

As well as the two projects for the fund, my line manager has also asked me to put together some information about Scheduled Monuments at Risk – oh well, better to be busy!!

There are also some away days to go to, Scarborough, Harrogate, Berwick and somewhere else I can’t remember!

Anyway, I guess I should make a cuppa and get on with some stuff (might even turn the tv on!)

Finally -

a political party in the UK has seen the need for taxes to help stop the Climate Chaos.

The Liberal Democrats have voted to implement ‘Green taxes’ (if they ever make it to Downing Street) – a brave move and I hope that the other parties will follow suit.

They intend to strengthen tax incentives to use smaller and less polluting vehicles and increase the tax on vehicles such as 4×4s. They will encourage more fuel efficient aircraft by implementing a per aircraft charge rather than per passenger.

Not until all the parties take the same line over the environment and the threat of global warming will voters have to take note.

At what point will people start to take notice? At the moment all they do is listen to the scare mongering of the media – even I thought that the Lib Dems had decided on some really radical policies but on looking at their website I discovered that they aren’t doing as much as they could – but I guess it’s a start.