It Never Ends

My grandfather (my mums dad) collapsed and died on Wednesday night. No warning, no pain, literally spent the day ay my mums helping her do stuff, got home and bam, lights out. I just can't grasp the fact that he is gone.

No more cigar smoke at Xmas, no more talking to him, then realising his hearing aid was not only switched off, but not even in his ear, and no more of his mucking around. We shared the same birthday, exactly fifty years apart. Just like mum and John got married on my birthday, except I was 10 years old at the time. September 17th was a triple celebration, then John died, and now my grandad is gone.

So we've spent the last couple of days being busy, sorting paperwork, trying to make everything right, and the worst of it - the very worst. My uncle - grandads only son, and his eldest child. We're all grieving, giving no thought to money or to the house or the car - but HE - he is sniffing around, working out how much to sell the house for, how much to sell the car for, checking out all the antiques, asking about insurance plans grandad might have had as my uncle is oh so badly off. We cried when the nurse brought out his bits and pieces, but my uncle - he saw that my grandad had a fortune on him at the time, and that he had never had so much money on him.

Oh well, to say the will reading will be amusing is an understatement - little does he know he's been written out of it for the last two years. The reason? He visits a friend across the road from his parents three or four times a week, but hasn't been in to see nan or grandad for eight months.

Needless to say, I am not a happy chappy, and can see things being said to him before long.

Anyways, the passing of my grandad hit my mum hard. He was the only man that has ever been in my mums whole life, and now he is gone. My nan, so far, hasn't let it sunk in I don't think. She's been crying on and off, but that's about it. She and Grandad were married when she was 17, and back in those days, there was no such thing as "adultery" or "divorce". Till Death Do You Part meant exactly that. Nan is living with mum at the moment, and as she has such bad eyesight, we're not sure what is going to happen with her. Either she will live with mum, or vice versa, but only time will tell...

So, till the funeral, I suspect that things are going to be pretty crappy here. Please keep my nan and mum in your thoughts and prayers. It's only been 15 and a half months since John died, and that is still an open wound on my mum.