Tribute to my dear nan.

Ok here we go!
My nanan passed away last night.... All the family were right beside her, which is what she always wanted.
I really wanted to say a few things about her, just to honour her memory. I wanted to remember all the amazing moments we shared together, and maybe writting it on here will help bring everything back to me.
She was called Mabel Atkinson, she was born in April 1936 in a little village called Royston in Barnsley (UK)
She grew up with her twin brother and sister Harold and Mary. Her mum and dad were called Maud and Herbert.
She had a lovely childood, and although in those days they had no money they made the best of things. She told me lots of stories about her younger years, but i dont think i can write it all on here as theres so much!
She met my grandad, Robert Ward! Her first ever boyfriend!! (i think she was only about 18 or 19) She told me she went to a dance with her friend. Her friend wanted to ask my grandad for a dance, but he had no intention of asking my nanans friend. He was more interested in my nan. They eventually got married and my grandad lived with her at her mum and dads house. She had a baby called Margaret who is my auntie :-) Then about 4 years later moved into there own house. They had another baby, my uncle Geoffrey. When she was 34 she got pregnant with my mum and my auntie. She didnt know she was having twins at the time as they didnt have scans back then. She went into lablour very early, and they were both very small. They didnt expect my auntie Lynda to live at all. She pulled through though :-)
My mum and my aunties and uncles had a brilliant childhood, even though yet again there wasnt much money about. My nanan said family was so much more important than money, and she is absolutely right! Unfortunately my nanan lost her mum and dad when my mum was very young. She had to be strong for them.
My nanan was a stay at home mum, she worked at Woolworths for a little while, but when the kids grew up she worked at the local swimming baths. She stayed there until she retired at 60.
When i was a toddler, my grandad had a heart attack. He pulled through though and lived till i was 17 years old. My nanan was devastated, he was her first love. They never spent anytime away from one another, as she said they were like an old pair of slippers! Haha!!! We made sure we all helped her through this hard time as much as we could. She was so grateful for having such a big family. I went to see her about 4 times a week, we were very close. She was like my best friend. Eventually time passed on, there were more great grand children coming along! She loved it!! In September 2010 i found out i was pregnant. I was only 5 weeks, but i had to tell my nanan!! She was so pleased!! Eventually i gave birth to my daughter Isabelle on the 8th June 2011. The day after my 26th birthday!! It was a fantastic birthday present for me!! I had her very late and my mum didnt call my nanan, and she was going mental afterwards! She was worried something had gone wrong. We eventually went to see her with our little bundle :-) She was just so happy. Of course, my nanan was very opinionated!!! Well you would be if you were around that long i guess! She kept telling me how to parent and why Isabelle would cry. She made me giggle one day as she said the reason why she had wind was because she had no socks on!! I knew she meant nothing by it though, she was just a character. She loved her grand kids and always wanted us to pop round every week, she loved them playing oin the house and eating lots of chocolate!!
Eventually she got poorly just after her birthday in 2011, her blood platelets were low and she was rushed into hospital, they put her on steroids. That seemed to make her better and she came home. Her mood suddenly changed though, they said that the tablets would cause depression and alot of other things too. She didnt talk very much, she was only happy when we brought the kids around. After mine and my daughters birthday, we went to see my nanan, everyone was worried about her. She had a heart attack while i was there with my daughter. She went to hospital for a week. She came out as they said she was ok. She was very weak, she couldnt walk, she couldnt go to the toilet. We all helped her where we could. Unfortunately she stopped eating and drinking, we tried getting the doctor in. He told her she was starving herself, and to eat. That wasnt helpful because it didnt work. We all made her food, she kept turning it away. We got the doctor in again as she kept falling down as she was so weak with not eating or drinking. They arranged for careers to come in and help her, make her some food and make sure she was taking her tablets. We never got to that though.... She was finally rushed into hospital on tuesday morning as she was couhing up blood. She had ulcers from not eating or drinking. Her lungs had filled with blood and her kidneys were failing. She also had phnemonia. (Not sure if i spelled that right) I saw her the day before she died, she was talking about the past. We were trying to make her laugh about the silly things we did as kids. I was trying to keep it together for her as she looked petrified. She knew it was only a matter of time. That was the last time she spoke to me. My mum went to visit her last night and she didnt have long left... So my dad called me and my sister. We sat with her till the end. Told her i loved her, and i could tell she heard me even though she couldnt speak anymore. She just made a little noise to just let me know she heard me. I held her hand to let her know i was there. All of my aunties, uncles and cousins were there. She would have been so happy knowing we were all there. She passed away at 8:30pm. We all just couldnt believe she wouldnt be with us anymore! I still cant accept it now as im writting this!
I honestly cant write all the wonderfull stories she told me about her life, as it would go on forever. She was an amazing woman, always did the best for her family! Always putting us first rather than herself. She inspired me in so many ways, she shaped me into the woman i am today. I know how to be a wonderful mum like she was... She was so proud of my weight loss, always encouraging me to go the extra mile! I will do this for her too now!I want to be so fit and healthy for my whole family! I want more children in the future and i need to be healthy so i can keep up with them when there running around!!
I hope she knew how much she meant to me, she will always be in my heart. I will never forget, i promise xx