Even though Grandpa had been ill for quite a while, it was still a shock when we heard he had a passed away. But I think what shocked me the most was that I wasn’t unhappy, or upset or really any emotion, and I couldn’t understand why. I’ve not had a lot of experience with death and I assumed that I should feel a huge sense of grief straight away, and the fact that I didn’t really confused me. The fact is it’s been in the time since then, the times when I’ve thought about Grandpa, and thought that I won’t ever be able to see him again, or talk to him that it’s actually began to sink in. I always looked forward to going to see Gran and Grandpa – they were exactly what you’d think of if you thought of the typical perfect grandparents. When we arrived they’d always remark on how we’d grown, and give us a big hug. Grandpa always had a story to tell, or advice to offer. He was the typical old RAF wing commander – jolly, always dressed smartly in a waistcoat and happiest when he was doing something. I remember when I turned 16 he very proudly asked if I’d like a beer, as if that was his own private way of saying I was becoming an adult. At Christmas he’d make mince pies, and we’d always ask him to make far more than we needed, so Daniel and I would take them home and be eating mince pies all the way into New Year. He told me the recipe once, but try as I might I could never get it quite right – it was all in the pastry, he told me, but I think he just had the knack for it. It was thinking of those things, and thinking that I’ll never be able to talk to him again, that actually made it hit home that he was gone. Both Dan and I loved Gran and Grandpa very much, and one of the saddest times for both of us was seeing Grandpa after Gran had passed away. He seemed to have lost a little of the spark and jolliness that he had before, and although we had lost our Gran who we loved, he had clearly lost something he really couldn’t do without. It’s comforting to think that, now he’s left us, he’s gone to meet her, and even though Dan and I have lost our Grandpa, our Grandpa has found the thing he lost, and he and Gran are together now and they will be forever.