My Nanna passed away on 28th December 2013 after spending 3 months in hospital fighting an unknown condition/illness. She went to sleep in week 2 of hospital and never woke back up. She underwent hundreds of tests and scans to try and find out what was wrong but nothing worked.
During the three weeks between her passing and her funeral, on 17th Jan 2014 i felt in complete limbo. It was a very strange feeling and a very emotional time for me.
Id like to share two things with you, first the ulogy that i read out during the church service at her funeral. It took me two attempts to get through this and was hands down the hardest thing i'd ever had to do in my life but i knew its something she would have wanted and been proud of me for.
For Nanna
I have so many wonderful memories of growing up around my Nanna. Tea tasting in the caravan, making play dough, teaching me to knit and sew, learning all about her love for gem stones and the stories she used to tell us about her life.
She was a fun, loving, caring, creative person who always had time for you and would always go that extra mile to do things for us, even if it meant staying up half the night making something.
Family was always really important to her and she was always happiest with her family around her. I had a pretty tough time at school and spent a lot of the school holidays at Nanna and Grandads. I have always felt safe there. and my Nanna always had one of her special hugs ready for me that made everything fine, (and for when she wasn't around we had the special pillows she made for us that she would fill with love to keep us going until our next visit) she gave me support and urged me on and encouraged me in whatever I wanted to do.
All the time I spent in her company whilst growing up has helped to shape who I am today, and I'm thankful for that and count myself lucky to have had a Nanna as wonderful as mine.
The second piece has a little story around it, We wanted My Nanna's friends and family to be able to take something away with them, a momento of sorts and so my Aunt came up with the idea of a funeral favour. I know it sounds strange but keep reading,
My Nanna had a passion for gems, stones and pebbles and spent a lot of her years collecting them, polishing them up and turning them into things. The house was littered with little dishes full of pretty polished pebbles and we decided to share them. So me, my Mom and my Aunt spent the day before the funeral collecting up the stones around the house and putting them into little organza bags along with a printed picture of My Nanna and we displayed them on a table at the wake covered in purple velvet and little butterfly sprinkles. I wrote a little poem to tell people about them and we printed it and put it in a frame and placed it on the table:
Beads and gems and pretty pebbles
Butterflies, Angels and fairy wings
Margaret had so many passions
And truly loved all of these things
And so we'd like to share these with you
A small momento for you to keep close by
Something special that you can treasure
And keep the memory of her passions alive
So please help yourself to a little keepsake
And take it with you wherever you are
And every time you see it remember
Margaret forever lives on in our heart
The guests at the wake loved the idea of being able to keep something that My Nanna had poured so much love and passion into and we knew that its the kind of thing she would have appreciated.
I miss My Nanna, a lot, and i don't think i will ever get over losing her but i will make sure her memory stays alive!
Chow For Now
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