Apologies that I've not been around. I visited my grandmother at tge end of January for her birthday. I was unable to get her present to her on the day so promised I would bring it to her when I finally received it. Unfortunately events made it awkward to visit, but I managed to finally get her gift. A bottle of perfume I thought she'd like.
On the 25th of March I found out she was in hospital and had been in for a week or to and no one had informed us. I went to see her the following day. She was comatose and struggling to breathe. Every breath seemed as if she was sucking through molasses. The nurse told us she wouldn't wake up and that it was a combination of pneumonia and her body building up carbon dioxide. They had taken her off all drips and all medication.
The following day she passed. It all happened so damn quickly. It only seemed like yesterday I was talking to her on her 77th birthday. Then came the difficult task of arranging the funeral. She always told us she had a funeral plan and it was all sorted, but it wasn't. She left nothing. We had to sell most of her possessions to raise money and get rights to her accounts to try and raise as much as we could. All the while trying to bat away the leeches of the family who were only interested in what they could get.
I went to see her in the funeral home. She looked so different. So, so different. But they had done an amazing job. They even gave her an oak casket whereas on the option we were paying for it's the norm for it to be cardboard. They had dressed her in a lilac funeral dress and the coffin fabric matched. (Something my mother requested as lilac was her favourite colour. )
Yesterday (22nd of April) was the funeral. Not the funeral she wanted, but it was good. We just couldn't afford the one she wanted and it sucks. I wore the perfume I was going to give her.
RIP Nan
Margaret Ann Middleton
