Grandad Chas

My grandad did the best ear tickles. He always told me I was ‘andsome. Whenever I saw him, I always knew that I would get many fusses. I saw him just before Christmas 2017 and he was happy to give me tickles and tell me to be a good boy. I love getting tickles and cuddles. He told my pawrents that I had become better behaved as time had gone by, that I was more attentive to them generally and I had learned more instructions. This made me happy and proud. I also got more treats when I was good.

Nanny & Grandad had a lovely Christmas Day and then celebrated 59 years of being married on 26th December 2017. They were born in 1937 and got married in 1958. They had five children including my uncle David who passed away in 1974. They worked hard to make sure their children always had food on the table, shoes on their feet and honesty in their bones.

Grandad suffered a heart attack in 2001 and had to have a very big operation to save his life. My dad went to the hospital with nanny to see grandad the day after the operation and said that grandad looked like an alien all wired up to machines. Thankfully the operation was a total success as it allowed him to live for many years after 2001. He was able to enjoy doing many things such as seeing England play cricket at Lords & the Oval, go again to the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show and even go hot air ballooning.

Last Christmas, the phone rang on 28th December 2017 and my auntie called to say Grandad had fallen over in the shopping centre. Then she called back 25 minutes later to say that Grandad had passed away. I looked at dad and he was looking sadly at mum. He knew there was nothing he could do to bring grandad back and he would never speak to my grandad again. His heart ached and he wondered what to do. However he knew he had to go and see nanny as she would need plenty of support now that Grandad was gone. Grandad was nannies rock and helped her do everything. Grandad would try to cheer her up when she was sad. He would go shopping, do the cooking and generally help to make nannies life easier as they grew older. He was always at his vegetable allotment growing so many vegetables and fruit that they always had plenty of healthy food to eat. He would say that he had grown enough beans and carrots to feed an army.

Grandad Chas was a good bloke, he loved all his family and all his friends. He worked hard, really hard, to make sure that he could look after my nanny and ensure that his children grew up safe, secure, loved and with a sense of responsibility for what they will face in the world. He wanted his children to have good morals and were thoughtful and lived their lives with a free thinking and positive mindset. I think he succeeded. He said he was proud of his children and that was one of his main goals in life.

My dad tells me to always say what you feel when you can to the people you love and cherish. One day it will be too late and you mustn’t regret not telling those people dearest to you, that you love them. I miss my grandad so much so often. I miss the ear tickles and the back scratches. I miss the belly rubs and the head massages with his long bony fingers. Mostly I miss him not being able to lean into his shins and look up at him and tell him, with my eyes, I love you Grandad.