Doreen
By Sophie, Senior Brand Marketing Manager
Growing up, I was always jealous of friends whose grandparents lived round the corner. My Grandma Doreen lived hundreds of miles away, so we couldn’t just pop around. But looking back, I realise this wasn’t a bad thing – it made our visits up north all the more special.
As kids, my sister and I would count down the days until we could visit her and go on our favourite girls day out – a bus ride to McDonalds, followed by a spin on the merry-go-round. To us, that was the best day ever.
You also can’t talk about my Grandma without mentioning her incredibly strong-willed streak, which we loved. This trait was best exemplified when, very soon after suffering a heart attack, she insisted that we went ten pin bowling. She won, of course.
When the pandemic hit, our already long-distance relationship felt even longer and, like most, we went months without seeing each other. By this point, dementia was setting in for my grandma and I wasn’t sure what it would be like when I saw her again.
I needn’t have worried. When we were finally able to meet up, she was just as caring and keen to see us as ever. And just as sassy.
For our post-lockdown reunion, I decided that it was my turn to return the favour for all those childhood memories, so I treated her to our very own day out. Off we went to McDonalds, where we happily tucked into a box of our favourite: chicken nuggets. Despite the dementia, she could still remember doing exactly the same with us, all those years ago.
Sadly, she’s not with us anymore, but I’m so grateful that we never took our time together for granted. It’s the happy memories of those times spent together that inspired me to become an Age UK telephone friend. Building a friendship and connection with someone from an older generation is really special.