Helen, my inspiration…
my amazing gran is one of the inspirations behind my final chapter. She sadly left us over 16 years ago, at the age of 82. She was a huge part of my life and I miss her every day.
The reason why she is part of this story is that when my mum went to her flat after she slipped away in hospital she found everything sorted. Even the piles of anti-macassars, table cloths and co-ordinated sets she had piled up from her glorious annual holidays in Benidorm.
Not only that her funeral plan was all set out – the hymns, the readings, who was doing what. Everything the way she wanted it to be.
Earlier that year she called me to tell me she’d been to the Co-Op to pick her coffin – mahogany with burgundy inside, same as her living room so she felt home from home. I thought it was advanced planning, she she clearly knew something was up.
Was this an enormous act of kindness, or just control freakery? I truly think the former. We were all able to say our goodbyes safe in the knowledge that this was what she wanted – no worries about choosing the wrong song or someone being missing. This is something everyone could do to make this traumatic time so much easier for their loved ones.
Now I’m getting a little older I realise just how selfless this was, I can only encourage others to do the same.