My Nan was always a big part of my life. My sister and I spent many afternoons with her and my grandad after school and they took us on camping trips and holidays during school breaks. She was always quick with a smile, warm cuddle or a treat that could cheer us up whenever we were down.
I had my own room at Nan's that was always ready for me when I slept over and she would bring my my favourite meal ( chicken schnitzel) in on a tray when we stayed over. She also got me hooked on my favourite dessert - blancmange. We always had a treat waiting for us when we got there from school - usually a Furry Friends chocolate that we used to break into small pieces and make animal shapes with.
One of the things I remember most about Nanny was her stories. Every night that we stayed there, she'd tell us a story from her childhood - about how she broke an umbrella over a girl's head for calling her a ginger, and how she threw a bale of hay at a boy when she was in the Land Army during World War II.
Nan was born in 1927 and was quite young when the Second World War broke out. She was asked to evacuate but instead chose to stay and serve in the Land Army, where the women performed the farming and other jobs while the men were away. She had plenty of stories about the war, some funny and some sad ones. I remember her telling me a story (when I was much older) about a man who was hit by a fire-bomb while riding his bike down the street and about a neighbour whose daughter didn't want to go into a bomb shelter during a air raid, but he forced her. As she was entering, a bomb exploded and killed her. Her bedroom was the only room untouched by the bombing.
My Nan and Grandad moved to Australia with their three girls, Barbara, Janet (my mum) and Sue and, after living for a short time with my Grandad's sister, they bought a house in Reynella were they lived until my Nan was moved to a nursing home in late 2016. I remember learning to play dartsa and 8-ball in the shed, on a table that my grandad had repaired by stapling leather and netting to fix a pocket. I also remember a poster on the wall from WW II that said "Hitler will send no warning, so always carry your gas masks." I remember my sister and I changing it to "Grandad will send no warning" after he cleared the room a few times.
I remember knocking down almonds from their big tree as well as Nanny running around with a supersoaker water pistol shouting at the galahs that were eating all the nuts. I remember catching caterpillars on their big lavender bush to race against my cousins and I remember family Christmases held in their back undercover area, with everyone laughing and Nanny bustling around the kitchen making sure everyone was fed.
I remember the jigsaws, Nan always had one on the go and I usually would sit for a few hours and try to fit some pieces. She got quite a few from the second hand store and so sometimes we'd spend hours looking for a piece that wasn't actually in the box.
I remember the woolen lion that she had on the wall in 'my room' and I remember getting in trouble for playing with the mane with my feet and partially unraveling it, but Nan never got mad.
Nan served as Brown Owl (leader of the girl guides) in Reynella for many years. Her shed was filled with all the things she had made - Jack'o'lanterns, snakes and ladder sets and witches cauldrons. She was always great at making things and we spent many days making board games - we made Bookopoly (a version of Monopoly where you purchased book series), a super complex ninja turtles and cops and robbers game as well as a whole load of scenery pieces for my Warhammer game.
Nan would always play the games with me, no matter how complex, even Hero Quest or the strange games I made that had endless rules and thousands of pieces. She read my stories and always encouraged me.
There are so many other stories that I would spend forever to retell - Fergusson the dwarf volleyball player, Oompa-Oompa stick it up your jumper, Moonta trips and me winning the Monster in My pocket set and so many more.
My grandparents shared their 50th wedding anniversary in 2000 and I remember spilling an entire tray of jelly in the back seat of my car. I remember the love between them and how special their relationship was. When my granddad got sick, Nanny nursed him but he passed in 2004. After that there was always a little bit of Nanny that was missing. She still went on trips and to her over 50s club, but it was never quite the same for her.
As the years passed, things began to get harder, she became a bit more forgetful and found it hard to sign her name or to manipulate the jigsaw pieces. Then she began to forget words. The dementia set in hard in 2016 and she ended up in a nursing home after having a series of falls and hallucinations.
She passed on the 7th of March, a few months before her 90th birthday. While I'm not religious, I'd like to believe she and grandad are together again and she has her jigsaws and her big smile.
I miss you Nan.
Lots of love Keir, Kristine, Alana, Cameron and Tomas.
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| Nanny's chair, jigsaw, dip and Bailies at the wake |
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| Nanny and Grandad at their 50th Wedding Anniversary |
