long wandering post warning. Hungover so won't be well written and miss important details.
one grandmother died when my dad was young. he was brought up by his aunt, a legendary oldham powerhouse, and his dad. His dad was an utter fuck. Horrible man. He was a scrap merchant and occasional bare knuckle fighter amongst other things. One story is him asking my dad, who i think was about 8 and a latchkey kid, what would he do if he came home and turned the light on (early gas lamps) and someone was waiting for him. Couple of days later dad enters a pitch black house and as he reaches for whatever device turns the light on a hand rests on his own. Dad screamed the place down. For which he got punched across the room. Note my earlier mention of his bare knuckle fighting career. He didnt pull his blows by all accounts. (arse. I tear up when i think about the beating my old man got and i'm doing it now. poor little fellow.) Anyway my dad was taken in by his older sister and her husband and he became the dad my dad needed. RIP Uncle George.
On my mums side however i had proper nice batty grandparents. Grandad was village doctor and brought most of my home town into and out of the world. He was also an occultist, friend and doctor of Donald Campbell, climber, TT racer and friend of Geoff Duke. Spent all his money on motorbikes. If you have a few minutes, read this: www.uk-ufo.org/condign/casehoax2.htm Dr. Darbishire is my grandad, and his son Stephen my uncle.
Granny was lovely. Both granny and grandad called each other 'Tig', never known why, theirs was a proper love story. They spent the first evening of the honeymoon working out the perfect murder and raised the lovliest bunch of kids, and grandkids, i have the fortune to be related to :D I was badly bullied when i was a kid and when she heard she told me to leave school and come to her the moment it happened again. I arrived the next day and was greeted with a hug and a strong phonecall to the school. Lived with her for a couple of years. Sang like an angel, smoked like a demon, so much so she was known as Granny Fireplace to my cousins. Called 'The Dragon' by my dad. Favourite memory is when she had fallen over in the rose bushes AGAIN and the neighbours heard me walk out of the door to the garden and say "Oh for christs sake Gran! Again? you bloody idiot!" while laughing like a loon. She didnt mind one jot. She once broke her hip and said she felt like a fool lying on the floor. So i lay down next to her and we shared smokes until the ambulance men came. I wish i had had the time to get to know grandad properly and loved and miss my granny very much. RIP.
(DreddPirateBob has watched every scifi film ever on, Sun 5 Jun 2011, 13:02, Reply)