Hope to See You Soon
Alexandria Martin
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J: So, my , uh, he... John McInerney, Gran, as he was called, who would be your great-great-grandfather... M: I used to go in and out to him every day. We were four years, or something, living in O’Dwyers Villas, or five. J: Yeah we were four years, and then he left this house here this was his house - and he left it to Grandma. Lock, stock and barrel, everything to Grandma. M: “The council is selling that house”, he said to me. “I was thinking of getting it for you”, he said to me, and I said, “What!?”. “Yeah,” he said, um, “You need your own house”, he said, “With your two children” - he adored the two children now. And next thing anyway, am, I was here one night anyway and Gran came along and he said “There’s a document”, he said “Mind it. Come out and I’ll show you”, says he. “You see that wall there, that’s yours” he said.
J:
“And everything that’s inside it”
M: “And everything that’s inside it is yours”. And he said, “That’s a document, it’s very important”, he said to me. J:
It was his will.
M:
Where were you? Were you at work?
J:
I must have been at work, yeah.
M: He came in from work anyway and I said, “Gran gave me that” says I to him. It was his last will and testament. He gave me all his earthly goods, even the grave above in Kileely, I owned it. J: So that’s where the absolute, beautiful kindness came into our lives.
Hello, Patrick? This is Gran now wishing you a holy, and a happy Christmas. And I hope you’ll be home here, please God, in June. We’re going to have a right good crew, I guess. So don’t forget now and buck up, and we’ll have a good season with the help of God. Everything’s all well here so far. That’s all I have to say to you now. Good luck and God bless you, and I hope to see you soon.
M:
He had his own key, and he used to come in.
J:
He always had his own key.
M: There used to be an armchair there and he used to come over and stand in front of Grandad, who was sitting in it and then he’d look over to the cabinet over there and he’d say, “Is that a bottle of whiskey I see over there?”. “’Tis” Grandad would say and he’d keep watching the television. J:
And then after about a half an hour or...
M:
He never went into a pub in his whole life.
J:
But he said, “ah...”
M: And he used to love a drop - all old people love a drop of whiskey. J: And I said, “Would you like a drop?”, and he says, “Ah, I will so, if you insist.” M:
And if we were going out he would baby-sit, wouldn’t he?
J:
He would.
M: He often slept here now, as well. And he’d say - I’d give him a bag of sweets and a drop of whiskey - “Go on away now, ye”, he said, “I’ll be jawing on these sweets while you’re out”. Then he used to smoke his pipe. He was a dote, wasn’t he?
When the pandemic hit, and along with it the fear of everyone in my family dropping like flies, I began to realise how truly unprepared I was for death. I have never felt true grief, but now I was faced with the possibility of a large quantity of it. I guess I thought that if I learned enough about Gran and his son, then I could take some of his wisdom in dealing with grief.
Hope to See You Soon Alexandria Martin Dummy Edition 2021 © All rights reserved This dummy edition was created as part of Year Four Photography, Film & Video, LSAD
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