Her Best China

Too many years ago, when J and I started going out, one of the first people I met in her family was her grandmother, "Little Gran". She'd been widowed many years previously and lived alone in her home, which for generations had been her husband's.

Often J and I would go down and have tea with her, served in this best china tea service. She had been a professional baker in her prime (don't think was ever not in her prime) and J has inherited her skills. Great times.

Gran was just the coolest woman I think I've ever met. Calm, wise, few words and massively proud and loving. When J and I got married, and then had our girls, Gran was always there to support.

She died sixteen years ago, two weeks short of her hundred and second birthday. Just two weeks before she died, J and her mum went to see her when she was failing somewhat. Famously, she lifted her head up and declared: "What are you here for? I'm not dead yet!"

When J had been at school, she had lived with Gran for a couple of years when her parents lived away. She still misses her now; so do I. If you saw them together, you could just tell they were "best china plates". Mates...