The idea to move Granddad into a care home was my mothers suggestion. They could just about afford to pay for either a live-in carer or a comfortable room with companionship among other elderly residents, and Granddad himself didnt mind the prospect. Once, hed often felt terribly lonely and was always trying to make friends or invite us round. But with all the tablets and surgeries, it simply made more sense to be somewhere with trained staff on hand at all hours. Besides, Granddad truly seemed to enjoy the care home. Within the first week, the news that hed moved out had spread through our relatives and friends, and I was allowed to move into his flat for a while, sparing me the expense of renting.
Granddad let me redecorate, assuring me that the place would be mine one day, and that hed love for me to settle in with a nice English girl as soon as possible. It was a wonderful giftbut not, as it turned out, without its surprises.
You see, some folk are already used to staying over now and then, Granddad would tell me. So, if anyones in need, let them stay in my room a day or two.
How could I refuse? It was still his flat, after all. I truly didnt realise just how many regular callers he actually had. At the close of March, his cousin came to visitshe stayed a few days to see her granddaughter, who was studying nearby. Not long after, that granddaughter ended up moving in too, seeking respite from her university hallsmy flat offered more comfort, naturally.
Granddad would ask if I could put up an old friend of his, or some distant relation needing a place for a night or two, but the last straw was his attempt to set me up with an acquaintance of hisa lady ten years my senior. I finally told him it was time to choose: either he stopped inviting people to stay over, or Id have to leave. He told me to pack my things and go.
He would never refuse a friend or acquaintance a favour, but refused one to his own grandson. It became clear to me then that the comfort of his friends mattered to him far more than mine.
So let him do as he pleases with the flatwhether he returns and lives there himself, or hands the key to his old chums and lets them stay rent-free. Id sooner pay rent elsewhere and have a door thats truly mine, where strangers wont walk in unannounced, than live in a place that never quite feels like home, always waiting on the next uninvited guest.
