The photograph
I went into Dom’s room this morning and noticed a couple of new Buffy posters in weird colours. They are next to the last photo that was taken of her Granddad. In the photo he’s in front of a Tudor house with a dog. The house and the dog belonged to a couple who he worked for part time. He used to look after the animals and do odd jobs. Even after he went blind they would find him things to do. They would even arrange his transport; They understood his need to feel useful. (Peter that is why I was concerned about the miners being asked to retire at fifty).

The last job he did for them was to bury the dog. She died soon after the photograph was taken. Shortly after that, Dad started to take lemon cough and cold medicines for what he thought was a cold or maybe even flu. He had lung cancer, he didn’t survive much longer.

A few days after the funeral the people who owned the dog gave my Mum 5 copies of the photo, one for her and us four children.

Dom was more upset about her Granddad dying than the boys, she cried and cried, in fact she cried so much that he visited her in a dream and told her that she should stop crying. That’s why I gave her the photo. So there he is shining out amongst posters of Buffy, Charmed and Mylaine Farmer