On Sunday Sisters One, Two and myself took Grandma out for lunch while the Parents went down to London to check out the Queen's digs. For those who are unaware, Grandma is 93. She was actually born before WWI, which for those who don't know their history, was quite a while ago. The fantastic thing is she is still going strong. Well, strongish. The past year, especially the last three or four months, have become more difficult as her short term memory has began to deteriorate and holding a conversation requires an almost constant dialogue in order that she maintains her train of thought and won't start all over again. Things can get a little... repetitive.

Usually Grandma comes over for a meal on a Sunday, and without this event her perception of the week gets a little lost (she anchors herself to each day with an event) so we decided that the best solution was to take her to her favourite Sunday lunch spot. It all went well apart from the usual loss of memory. It's very hard to convince Grandma that she has done something, and sometimes she thinks she has done something she hasn't. For instance, she feels incredibly guilty she hasn't paid for the meal, so she gets out her purse while apologising. This gives us enough time to explain (for the third or forth time) that she paid up ten minutes ago, and for her to discover the note in her purse that we had written the second time she asked. Of course, she doesn't remember us writing the note or putting it in her purse so she gets confused. Once she has been reconvinced that she has paid, it's time for another sip of her coffee and the whole process to start over again.

It's unfortunately one of those things that comes with old age, and although decline through senility is something I've witnessed in other relatives, it's a bit more close to home when it's your Gran. There have been other concerns of late though. Her rheumatism is getting worse and her mobility isn't as good as before. It's not she can't go; once she starts it's hard to stop her, but just stability and getting up are a little more tricky, and she hasn't been able to get upstairs for years (which of course half the amount of stuff she can nick when she is doing a burglary).

But yet she manages in her somewhat palatial bungalow (she lives in the same bungalow Father lived in before he left home, and that was a long time ago) managing a house with three bedrooms and a garden. She doesn't cook really anymore, and cataracts are developing. Yet she is amazingly solid and loves to reminisce (an old person's prerogative).

It's a shame that this decline happens. The doctor says her memory may stabilise, it may not. However it's still great that me and my sisters can pack our Grandma into a two-door 'F' reg Volkswagen Golf and wheel her off to the garden centre where she can enjoy her other 'old person prerogatives' such as two sugars in her tea and ice cream after Sunday roast. Most remarkably, her knowledge of Drum'n'Bass is second to none. (Joke. She prefers old skool jungle and electronica).

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