I spent a lot of time with my Grandma Brenda & Grandad John – separately, as they had separated. I wasn’t allowed to tell either one of them if I had seen the other one – they hated each other! I believe Grandad had an affair, but no one talks about that!
I would see Grandma on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Then Grandad and his new wife Olive on Sundays for church & a roast dinner. Sometimes we would go back to theirs and watch one of Olives many Disney videos.
My cousin Kerry was always there. She was a few years younger than me & we were such good friends until Olive drove us apart.
I didn’t like Olive. She would always tell me SHE was my real Grandma, not Brenda. Mind you, Grandma would do the same too, but she WAS my grandma.
She was an amazing Grandma! We would repeatedly watch Oliver Twist video, singing and dancing like they did on the film. We would have fish fingers, mash, carrots, peas & beans for tea. She aways had fresh cherries in the fridge for afters, with ice cream. When I was small, she would dunk my dummy in her sugar pot before giving it to me – yummy!!
She had a lot of brass around & pictures everywhere. Brass horses on and around the fireplace, and a huge brass sword in front of the fire. These were always kept immaculately shiny! Grandma was incredibly proud of all her pictures – of me, mum, aunty Cathy & her two children Adam & Alex – my cousins. They were everywhere! Picture memories are so important, when a person has gone, that all you have left!
When I got older, I would go to London with Grandma. Aunty Cathy lived there, eventually Grandma moved too – to Woodside Park area, in Finchley. We would travel on the tube, guessing which way the train would be coming from when the wind started blowing through the tunnels. Went shopping in Oxford Street & Brent Cross. Watched Oliver Twist show in the west end. She got me a CD, Darude Sandstorm & I Can Feel the Beat, she danced so well to it. Whenever I hear it now, I get thrown back to being with her, dancing! We really had the BEST times together! Then I started to grow up & didn’t have time for Grandparents, as friends were stupidly more important!
My life! 