Memoir | Cancer | Health
Words With the Power To Terrify Me During My Late Wife’s Illness
It began with my gran‘s illness in the 1970s
My gran’s house was brand new when she moved in, but I only knew the place half a century later in the 1970s. Although it was no longer modern, its Bakelite electrical fittings gave it character.
When I was seven, my mum shielded me from the details of her mum’s illness. That’s what adults did in those days. Although we continued to visit as usual, I may have been encouraged to play outside more often.
My gran’s dilapidated garden shed was dark and dingy, but I loved the random assortment of old, threadbare balls that lived there. They seemed special and unique to me, and I would play with them as I explored the back garden while the adults talked in the living room.
Perhaps they didn’t realise there were times when I was listening, but certain words stood out; I sensed fear when my mum and uncle spoke of cancer and Clatterbridge.
Those words would come back and terrify me as an adult.
