My Nan

My Nan was like one of the crosswords that she did everyday, complicated, difficult to understand sometimes, great when you got it right and ultimately better with Grandad.

I’ll never forget how annoyed he got every time she guessed the right answer but couldn’t explain how she got it. She was as sharp as they come growing up, mental maths, card games and rounds of Scrabble that she never let me win at. I might have won once but I don’t really remember…these are the things that made Nan, Nan.

An unforgettable trip to Lapland with husky rides and snowmobiles, coach trips to London for the theatre and pretending to be posh in Harrods, less glamourous 24 hour trips to Belgium and getting to see the Millennium Dome.

Polishing army boots for 50p a boot, pulling sickies from school so I could go down the market with her and grandad, riding in the back of their little van and using a cardboard box as a seat.

Friday nights at the dogs, Saturday mornings in Marks, buying cream cakes from Greggs and spotting a fruit machine from a mile away.

Thick slabs of Lurpack, prawns and lamb chops, her bread and butter pudding was always a treat. A tea tray was a staple in my grandparents house and I always got in told off for wearing the tea cosy as a hat.

Nan was a force to be reckoned with and was always right…even when she was wrong. She was never the same after grandad died and her sharp mind was dulled over time but one thing you can say about Nan was that like it or not she lived on her own terms right until the very end.