The man across the road

The man across the road is dying. Cancer. And yes he's old but that doesn't matter. He doesn't know but I'm watching him; watching and waiting. I think we all are. I live in a fish bowl, well it's actually a crescent but it feels like a bowl. I'd been watching him before I was told, knowing something wasn't right. I don't know that much about him really. Retired, he does the usual things like going for the papers, walking the dog and the gardening. Last week the ambulance came for him and I thought it was the end. The street watched and we all waited. "Get down from the window", noses pressed up against the window shamefully. We've written a card and dropped in some chocolate but there's little we can do or say. He's been given a small window and it's a matter of weeks. Death is the only thing I can't accept about life. And it feels like it's living across the street from me. Every day I watch the curtains to see if they are drawn or not. I'm not related but I like him and already I feel sad that we're losing him. He's got a spring in his step, he's the neighbourhood watch and he takes an interest. It seems so unfair. I can't imagine how he feels and his son who stays by his side day and night.

My granny tells me the pearly gates are waiting for her and St Joseph, I think, is knocking on her door. At 92 she's very funny about life and death but I know she's scared. She is an angel. And what a life story she has. Born in 1919 in Northern Ireland, she moved to Paisley in the '30s and I'm not sure what was worse growing up in the North or living in the West of Scotland. I think they were both on a bigoted par. Granny Mary's life makes for a book and quite simply could not be covered in a blog. It wouldn't do her justice. An old lady now but still a tower of strength and wisdom. Though she definitely sees herself as inferior, an immigrant, years of being told she wasn't good enough. It's her ignorance of how remarkable she is that makes her so intriguing. That, and she's my gran which is enough.