BRINGING GRANDPA TO LIFE

DAY 76-79

Another restless night. Between the bladder which doesn’t seem to have the willpower to last more than three hours after I go to sleep, and the persistent

Big M moments where the doona gets tossed off one minute and dragged back the next, it’s not unusual for me to be awake at 2 or 3 in the morning. Most of the time sleep returns quickly enough, but like many of my friends of similar vintage, there are those staring at the ceiling nights where the brain refuses to switch off in order to allow you to drift off peacefully. There comes a moment when you realise no amount of tossing or turning or pillow pounding is going to help, so you reluctantly drag yourself out of bed and go watch TV for a while or make a cuppa or read a book until the eyes get heavy again.

It was on one of such nights recently I propped myself up in bed and started writing some stories for my granddaughter. At 4 years old, Bella has never known her Grandpa Bob, as my husband died two and a half years before she was born. He would’ve been such a big part of her life, so working out how to bring him to life even though she is never going to know him is an interesting one.

So, with that challenge in mind I started scribbling, coming up with rough drafts of I only have one Grandpa, written in rhyme which touches on the differences between spending time with Nanny Marg and Parpy, and Nanny Di, Where’s Grandpa, a story about looking for Grandpa set as if he were still alive, touching on his favourite pastimes, The Night the Lights went out, about being scared during a storm, and Great Grandpa Percy’s Garden, a story about my own father who she will also never know, so she can get a sense of other family connections.

By the time I was finished the first light of dawn was filtering through the blind and sleep was not forthcoming, I was on a roll. Went for an early morning power walk, faced the day with gusto, but had a very mushy brain by the end of the day.

So the goal now is to complete them, not simply the stories but the whole thing, and that is where the crunch comes. I can see the illustrations in my head, I can see the finished product, but to nurture the dream into a reality will be the real test. Wish me luck.