the corner office

More sad news - my grandmother passed away early yesterday morning. She was sickly on Tuesday morning, went to sleep, slipped into a coma, and passed away in the early hours of Wednesday. Given her declining health and increasing frailty, it wasn't entirely unexpected. Not only that, but we knew she was tired, and ready to go. That makes it easier to accept, perhaps, but the sadness and feeling of loss is no less.

Much like my mom, my gran had been clear about what she wanted and didn't want when she passed away. She'll be cremated, and when the family is all together again, we'll spread her ashes at the Botanical Gardens in Pietermaritzburg. I think we all choked up when my gran had originally asked for this. When we were living in 'Maritzburg, 25 years ago now, and in the years after when we went down on holiday, my gran would take myself, my sister and my cousins Christopher and Michael to the botanical gardens on Saturday afternoons. They were a ritual we'd look forward to the entire week. We'd collect bread crumbs the whole week so we could feed the ducks, and my gran would pack a picnic basket (usually with goodies she'd baked and made), and we'd spend the afternoon ranging about and exploring the gardens, climbing the hill and generally having a ball. My gran had said some of her happiest memories were of those afternoons with us at the gardens, and thinking back on it, they're some of my happiest memories too.