Granddad from the convalescent home sent a telegram: Im not coming back to you, Im going to live with Mary.
Mariannes grandmother, Edith Wilkinson, remains in her memory as a gentle, loving, and understanding granny. She only vaguely recalls her grandfather, fragments of childhood memories catching nothing more than the sharp and sour whiff of hand-rolled tobacco, sweat, and his harsh, commanding voice. Grandma always spoke ill of him, saying hed hit her and was unkind every day for no real reason.
Granddad worked for the railways, patrolling stretches of tracks with his mate each day, searching for faults and, if possible, fixing them on the spot. If not, theyd ring up the repair crew with exact directions. It was a tough job, especially as they walked in the dark through all seasons, which wore him down. Back then, the local council provided free vouchers to local health spas and convalescent homes. Granddad had several chances to go, but always refused.
One winter, an old knee injury flared up badly. The doctor prescribed treatment and insisted he go to a convalescent home to recover. Granddad was always a little wary of doctors but had great respect for them, so he packed his thingsEdith had helped, stuffing an old brown suitcase with a plastic handleand went without complaint.
Edith couldnt have been happiera full three weeks freedom from her husband! She roasted a big bowl of sunflower seeds, went outside, and shared them with the neighbours, confiding in them her delight. Three blissful weeks: no foul tobacco smoke, no snide remarks, no pokes or thrown out soup because there was too much or too little parsley.
Two weeks later, the post lady delivered a telegram to Edith: Im not coming back, Im going to live with Mary. Edith read the words over and over, almost not believing her luck. Then she fell to her knees, exclaiming, Good heavens, what have I done to deserve such a blessing?! She was beside herself with joy. Without delay, she gathered every one of Granddads shirts and trousersthe ones shed ironed dailypiled his documents on top, and hauled the suitcases and bundles out to the shed so that not even a trace of him would be left inside the house.
When Granddads leave came to an end, he appeared briefly, sorted out his job transfer, signed himself off the house, and left for good, taking his things and savings account, saying not a single word of explanation. Edith, of course, didnt ask for one. She was only afraid he might change his mind and stay.
The following weekend, she and her daughter went out to buy wallpaper. Granddad had never allowed wallpaperingonly whitewashed walls in the house. With the wallpaper, they ordered fabric for curtains too. Edith fetched out her old sewing machine and, humming to herself, finally made the long curtains shed dreamed of, the ones Granddad had always forbidden. Hed only allow those short curtains on a string, covering just a bit of the window. Edith despised those and called them old rags.
She used her hoe to hack away at the wild tobacco hed planted in the garden, replacing it with rows of young strawberry plants. She ripped out nearly all the fierce raspberry canesGranddad only liked raspberries, whether fresh or made into jam, forbidding any cherries, plums, or strawberries in the garden. Now, inside the house, Edith got rid of all the old, chipped crockery and finally brought out the tea set her colleagues had given her, deciding to use it every day.
The thick white plastic tablecloth, its pattern worn off years ago, went in the bin. She finally turned off the gas hobshed kept it burning with a blue flame for years, saving matches as Granddad demanded. Now she could use matches as she pleased. By the sink, a bar of fragrant strawberry soap appeared. Granddad never allowed handwashing with soapjust water, hed say, saving the soap for a proper bath once a week.
Edith flourished; even her wrinkles seemed to smooth out. Friends and neighbours came round more often for garden advice or simply a cup of tea. Edith visited them, too, treating everyone to golden homemade pies filled with wild mushrooms.
Her hair even started growing out darker at the roots, as if shed shed a decade. Eligible widowers soon came knocking, but Edith was steadfast and declined every proposal. She lived the rest of her life surrounded by her children and grandchildren.
