My grandma died and I sold a microwave

The last time I saw my grandma, we’d gone round for an advent calendar party. In April.

She’d bought one of those expensive beauty calendars in the sales after Christmas, so we’d all taken it in turns to open a door and then swap the items inside, eating tea and cake and cheese at the same time. I came away with some muscle rub and a bath oil.

Sitting in her chair, surrounded by her family, Grandma pretty much seemed the same as she always had. Physically diminished but very much alive and in the room. Still bickering with Grandad, still remembering the details of things you’d done years earlier and had forgotten yourself, still with passions and hobbies and interests.

So it was a surprise when she was gone less than a month later.

I keep telling people that it was unexpected, which feels silly to say about somebody who was 87 with lots of health problems.

It was different, though, to deaths I’ve experienced before.…