It was the end of 2013 when I got a phone call from my Mother,
My Mother and I didn’t live together,
Because she ran away when things got difficult,
She said that my beloved Grandmother was ill.
She said Nanna may not survive the night , and she knew
How much I loved her and would want to see her one last time.
I went to the hospital and held back tears.
Nanna looked so frail and fragile. Her skin was like a leaf.
“Hey Nan what’s happening?” I said stupidly.
“Hello Aiden, is that you, I can’t see very well,
How are you darling. You sure have grown.
Time slowed down and we chatted about the weather.
For some reason I stopped being an idiot for a second
And realised I didn’t really know this old lady who gave me life.
So I asked her about her life.
She pointed with a tiny hand to her luggage.
Inside I found a photo album, I had never seen before.
She had trouble turning the pages so I held the book for her.
Wow Nan these photos are amazing. Who are these people?
There were men in uniforms and ladies waving them goodbye.
There was a photograph of children running down the street.
There was a little girl with ice-cream all over her face.
There was a man washing an old Ford Buick .
Next to him was this beautiful women in a bathing suit, keeping cool.
“Wow Nan who was that bathing Beauty?”
She didn’t answer me and just closed her eyes.
Perhaps I’ll never know.