When Granny met Bevan

I've grown up looking at this photo but never used to appreciate what it meant to my Great Grandmother, or why my Nan was so proud of her mother shaking hands with this man.

This is a picture of my Granny Jones meeting Welsh Labour politician Aneurin Bevan and it takes pride of place in my Nan's living room.

She's not sure exactly when it was taken, somewhere around 1950. The Dee Park estate had just opened, a brand new collection of perfectly formed council houses. Nye Bevan was to visit and my Granny Jones was chosen, because she was 'very clean' and had a big family - or so the story goes. She had 12 children.

My Great Grandmother shaking hands with the founder of the NHS.

Proud.

Straight talking with my Nan

This week's gallery theme on the sticky fingers blog is 'grandparents'. So this got me thinking about mine - well, one in particular. Peggy Patch.

Peggy Patch is my maternal Grandmother. She's been known to me as Nan for most of my life, but the older she gets, the more nicknames we give her.

I love this photograph, taken with my husband before our wedding. At this point she was still sober, but determined to enjoy herself, despite the absence of my Grandad who'd died some years before. And enjoy herself she did, giggling all the way through the speeches like a naughtly schoolgirl, drunk on champagne.

There are many things that I love about my Nan, mostly her sense of humour and her love of life. She did everything a grandparent should do - which is basically everything your parents wouldn't. She put sugar in my tea and butter on my toast. She bought 99's from the ice-cream van and didn't tell Grandad we were drinking pints. She says 'fanny' and doesn't care if the kids wreck her house. And on a night out, she believes in having a good time and is always the last one to leave.

When my Grandad died, she crumbled. It was like her world had ended. For two years I shared the responsibility of staying with her, to help her get used to life alone. But I enjoyed it so much I ended up almost moving in. She didn't bat an eyelid when I returned home from clubs at 8am the next morning. She'd bring me water and empty the bucket when a night on the tiles left me throwing up for hours on end. She gave up her house so my friends could all stay. We would stay up late, drunk and laughing, unable to get to sleep. But best of all, she welcomed my husband-to-be into her home, giving up her bed so we could stay together - and then lied to my mum!

And now my 3 year old loves her too. He laughs whenever he sees her and she's just as naughty with him as she was with me. So when I saw the gallery post for this week was grandparents, I had to take this opportunity to honour my Nan. Margaret 'Peggy' Soden (nee Jones). One in a million and the funniest person I know.