Although I like to think of my blog as a place for positivity and happy things, I’m afraid I make no excuses for the fact that this isn’t going to be particularly uplifting read. I think I need the catharsis of reflecting on the last few days, so if you’ve come here for cupcakes, sunny gardens and bike rides, well, you might want to sit this one out.
Those who follow me on Twitter might have already worked out that my Grannie died on Tuesday night. She had been suffering from the after-effects of a stroke for three months but the optimist in me was hoping she would get better, and so, though some may have seen it as inevitable, it still came as a bit of a shock. Luckily my boss was understanding enough to let me take a few days off work to go down to Cornwall to be with my Mum and her stepfather (my Grannie’s husband). Those few days were filled with a great deal of sadness – the sorts of things that never occur to you would generate emotion, but do – seeing hairs on a comb, half used soaps, a toothbrush in a pot that will never be used again. Whilst looking in a bathroom cupboard I found my Grannie’s diary and found it terribly upsetting to see events jotted down in diary pages for dates that she would never see. The photos in this post were taken when we went to the nursing home my Grannie spent the last few days of her life in to collect her things. You can see the nursing home on top of the cliffs at Poldhu. Sadly my Grannie died in hospital but my Mum felt it was such a perfect place for my Grannie to spend the last few days of her life.
I know that I will remember my Grannie with warm thoughts forever, and will, for a long time feel sad for the mother that my mother has lost, and the wife that her stepfather lost (on their wedding anniversary). Thank you to those of you that sent me lovely tweets this week, it has been a great comfort to know people are thinking of me.