grand parents are the best

there isn't any competition when it comes to how amazing my grand parents are/were. most of my childhood memories are those i spent in the their gardens, at the thompsons picking vegetables, riding in my 'boogie' (handmade for me by my grandad), eating amazing chocolate cake or drinking extremely sugary tea, or at the wilsons drinking ice cream sodas/soda streams, having the bouncy castle in the garden or hanging out with my millions of cousins.

sadly in 2002 nana betty (wilson) and grandad earny (thompson) passed away. was pretty much my first ever experience of death and the people that i spent every weekend with were gone. i wasn't a child anymore and the reality of these types of things are on a much larger scale. a few years later granny mary died too.

now, grandad tommy is my last remaining grandparent and as much as a crazy old fool he is, i love sitting with him when i get the chance and listening to his random but very repetitive stories.

firstly he claims he danced with marilyn munroe when living in america, and she was his first choice over my nan! clearly where the wilson's get their 'man about town' gene from.

secondly he tells my boyfriend about how he watched a programme on photography once and the girl just pulled her knickers down ... we think it may have been some late night chanel 5 epic.

and, probably my favourite, in his fake american accent (depending where in the world he is telling the story from, he changes as though this is how he spoke back then) he claims he flew a stolen aeroplane and his co pilot told him to 'take it down on the roof, tom" which apparently they did and wheeled across roof tops in said stolen plane!

o he also did a bungee jump aged 70, yes he is mental, but as my last grandparent alive, i love him to pieces and cherish every moment i get to spend with him.

anyway back to the main reason for my post. all four of these people have been very influential in my life and thought me, along with my parents, right from wrong.

crazy tommy though, in his crazy ways once went and got a tattoo for my nana whilst drunk, which inevitably spelt her name incorrectly, so in honour of the wilsons last night i got this ...

BETTIE

i will when the time is right and find a meaningful object and dedicate 15minutes of pain to the thompsons.

i love you all and miss those gone dearly XXXX