Born in 1919,  she has seen a lot of change. Living her younger years in Norfolk,  moving to London as a married women and stating a family. She brought up her son and daughter single handedly,  after her husband was killed in a motor bike accident in 1952.

She spend her life caring for elderly family members and cleaning houses for a living to ensure her children had opportunities she never had.  In later years she help bring up her five grandchild and she open up her home to family’s who needed a place in London to stay whitest their sick children were in hospital.

Thought out her life she took great pleasure in the company of cats, many were known just to move in. She was out lived by happily named pussy cat, who now resides with me.

Everyone that knew her or meet her enjoyed her company.  When in London she had many a visitor,  most of my close friends have known her hospitality in hotel O’Connor East Acton.

A favourite story’s of her’s is how she would cheer up the jehovah’s witnesses that regularly visited by putting bailey’s secretly in their tea.  Her response when we told her you can’t do that nan,  well they shouldn’t be so miserable.

She made the move after a fall, to live in Middlesbrough to be close to her daughter,  the last two year of her life was spent getting out more than she had in the past ten.  With regular visits out to mine and mums for Sunday dinners. We spend our last Christmas  together in my first house. One of my favourite memory’s is celebrating my 31st birthday with her and my friends in the garden of her care home,  or #grannyInTheGarden as we called it.

 

She loved an ice cream and we would often pop to Redcar and Saltburn, to indulge this.  One of her last trip out was to the cinema where her grandson works to see Paddington bear,  her first cinema trip for 30 year.  She laugh from start to finish.  Nan had a laugh that was infectious and she taught me to always see the brighter side of life.  Something I promise to try and carry on.

She would joke about living to 100 to get her letter from the queen, unfortunately she only made it to 96,  but in her last months she talked of living a good life and let her family know she was ready.

She might not have changed the world but her love and kindness is imprinted on many hearts.