Gruff granddad’s legacy
He never did mince his words, but his warnings showed us he cared…
I’d just been to the dentist’s, so I was home from school early when my granddad suddenly collapsed.
‘Get her out of here!’ he gasped as I was bustled from the room.
It turned out a blood clot had just reached his heart. I think he’d realised he was dying and hadn’t wanted me to see at just 14.
That said, Granddad, a retired coal miner, had always been a bit brusque with us kids, but we knew he cared about us really, taking us on day trips and buying us treats.
Two years later, I was walking past a pub when I spotted Granddad, dressed in his usual tweed jacket, waving through the window!
His ghost didn’t scare me though. As a child I’d heard voices no one else could hear and I knew my gran had had ‘the gift’. A year or so later I moved in with Nan who was struggling on her own. One day as I stepped out of her front door, a woman down the street morphed into Granddad, before turning back into the woman again. This happened a few more times too!
Aged 24, I was married with a toddler, Malcolm, when I saw Granddad again. This time I was perched on the bed, putting clothes in a drawer, when I fell into a sort of trance and, suddenly, there he was in front of me. I could even smell his pipe tobacco, making me cough!
‘Something’s going to happen to your nan and if she dies it’ll be your fault,’ Granddad said, typically abrupt.
Next thing I knew I was lying on the bed and two hours had passed!
The following day I told Mum what Granddad had said, but neither of us knew what we could do and, sadly, within a week Nan died of a stroke.
Despite Granddad’s words, I didn’t blame myself. He’d just been trying to warn me in his usual blunt way.
I didn’t see Granddad again after that, but I seemed to have been left with an odd gift: I was able to sense pregnancies and various health issues.
When the doctors couldn’t diagnose Mum’s weird symptoms, the word ‘polymyalgia’ came into my head, which is what she turned out to have. Another time I suddenly blurted out ‘Michael’s going to get shingles,’ the day before Michael, my older brother, came down with it!
Once I couldn’t resist warning a random woman in the pub to get her blood checked. A year later I ran into her again and she thanked me – tests had revealed a clotting disorder, leaving her at risk of a stroke…
I don’t know whether Granddad sends me the information or if he triggered an ability I’d inherited from my family. Either way I’m grateful. He might have been curt – but he had a heart of gold.