Goodbye Grandpa

The time has come to say Goodbye Grandpa.

My grandpa, James Fairbrother, passed away at 9pm on Sunday evening after falling ill with pneumonia. At 92 years old he lived a long and productive life. He was a very special man that will be missed by many.

Kind messages have been flooding in and it is so comforting to know that he touched the lives of so many people.

My grandpa was a proud man, and very independent. Up until a few years ago he was still driving into work at the family business on a regular basis. He then started to become frail and show his age. His memory was impaired at times and he struggled to get up and walk on his own. For about the last year he had his own personal carer at all times.

He had a great sense of humour. Every time I spoke to him during the last few years he asked me “How is your lover?”. He just could never remember that we had gotten married. Every time I reminded him he would laugh and ask “But he is still your lover?”. I loved that because every time we had the same conversation it would remind me to keep working on my marriage. To make sure my husband is still my lover.

My grandparents were happily married for over 50 years until my beloved Granny fell ill with cancer and died. That was an incredibly tragic time for our family. Especially for my Grandpa. I am spiritual, but not religious. I am not sure what happens to us when we die, but I really like to think that on Sunday evening they were together again. That my Grandpa is updating her on all she missed, on the wonderful great-grandchildren she sadly never had the chance to meet and the great-grandchild on the way.

He was my last grandparent, it is the end of a generation in my family. This makes it especially sad for us. When I think of my grandparents I think of family traditions. Chocolates hidden under pillows during the night by fairies that we could never catch no matter how hard we tried to stay awake. Christmas lunches with the family packed around the table. Christmas pudding filled with coins being lit with a spoon of brandy.

I explained to my 3 year old daughter that her Great-Grandpa was very sick and very old, so he decided to leave us to become an angel. He is happy now, but we can’t see him again which will make us sad. She asked me if he has wings now. I said yes, angels have wings.

She was absolutely delighted and told me that is great, wonderful news!

Goodbye Grandpa, you were special and loved by many.