Memories

Written by Georgia Wallace

Gran was a pretty special person.
She will be remembered by her bright face, big happy smile, infectious laughter and the many kisses she would give you on arrival.

My cousin Katherine said this week, “Gran was always at the centre of any room. People, food and wine all seemed to gravitate towards her. She loved to sit and speak with people and learn about their lives”.

As for her grandchildren, she loved to celebrate our wins. She was immensely proud of our achievements, and she would loudly proclaim “well done, well done”. She loved to give people nicknames and recently she dubbed Cousin Nick the beer Barron, after his achievements with his business.

You always knew where you stood with Gran, she had a killer stare and could spot you from a mile away doing what she considered to be the wrong thing, Gran would look at me and say “Georgia, I am not amused”. But this was short-lived. Gran was great at ‘getting on with the job’. This was one of the great qualities I admired in Gran, She didn’t dwell on things. She would say “oh well, not meant to be” and move on to the next thing.

When chatting to the cousins this week, most spoke of a shared love of literature with Gran. She loved to read. I think she had read every book in the Stanton Library, they had to start going further afield!

Gran once told me that you must read the first 40 pages of a book and then you will know if it is the book for you.

Sam and Alex spoke of how they loved chatting to Gran about the books they were reading. She would ask them what they were reading and asked if it was rewarding or just a good read.

Gran was a wonderful story teller.

Many of the cousins agree they would thoroughly enjoy listening to the many stories Gran had to share. Louis particularly enjoyed hearing about her upbringing on ‘the station’, although he would get in trouble for calling it a farm. Sam shared he had enjoyed Gran’s stories of her father.

Gran’s stories to me really took on special meaning as I became an adult, wife and mother.

I think a lot of the love I have for Gran developed with my adult relationship with her.
When we were younger, Gran was quite strict with us children. Instilling proper values and manners in all of us, which was very important to her.
There were many lovely times with Gran; Jess remembers the wonderful trips to Disney on ice. Emma and I enjoyed equally special times, accompanying Gran to the ballet.

However, I feel my relationship with Gran really blossomed in my adult years. The honest and interesting conversations we had, I will truly cherish.

Gran LOVED her great grandchildren. They were so special to her. She especially enjoyed hearing about what they had been learning and a big belly laugh would be given to the tails of their cheekiness. I think she enjoyed those stories best of all.

We were all very proud of Gran who at the age of 90 learned to use technology and social media. This was really wonderful during Covid lockdowns, it allowed us all to stay in face to face contact with her. Sending videos, messages and video calling us and her great grandchildren really helped during those times.

God forbid she would send you a message and you would not answer quick enough. Emma laughed, that gran would say to her “hello sugar puss I’m talking to you”.

Gran LOVED her great grandchildren. They were so special to her.

I also wanted to share two stories that my cousins, told me this week that were typical Gran.

Nick and Louis picked up Gran from the airport a few years ago. She was waiting at the gate talking to the flight attendant ”Oh here are the two strapping boys to wheel me off in my chair” she said. Then as they rolled through the airport, she was saying to people “darling, get out of the way”.

Peta also remembered the time that she and Gran went to Cirque du Soleil where she got hit on by a clown. It had the rows, all around them laughing.

Gran, we loved you dearly.
We will miss you very much
We are grateful for the time we had.
We will miss you and the bright pink lipstick marks on our cheeks.

Love you Gran.