It was almost 4 o'clock in the morning and she was calm and quiet. She hardly opened her eyes enough to let me know she was there, to say goodbye. I held her hand and spoke to her as she stopped breathing.

She left without pain and I want to believe that without sorrow. She was taken care for as best we could and not left alone for a second, until the very end.

It began to rain after she passed.

Don't forget how much we love you. You can't imagine how much we will miss you. These past days with you were not hard. Spending time with you never was, love, and nobody could complain at making sure you were as well as you could be. It's only hard now that you are not here and everything reminds me of you.

I found your old pictures, or some of them. I'm sure there are more around. There is a lovely one of you holding Mike when he was a baby. There are others. You look happy in all of them. The nurses said you managed to outjoke the doctors. It's the sort of thing you would do, of course. I also found your button box. There are not two alike, my love. What are we going to do with you? I also found pictures of you with Nelly and with your father. Postcards sent to your mum, postcards from my parents in Iran. My father's school things. I cried when I heard him playing your music box.

I'm taking your picture, the black and white one where you can't be over 20. It's going to be next to the one of my other grandmother. I'll keep Nelly's picture too. And the radio you got for your dad when he went blind and that he used to carry about and you still have, that one is moving from your kitchen to mine. The Children's enciclopedia will also come. Mike still remembers his grandad tearing off the pages to write down his bets and how long you had to save and how hard you worked to get it for him.

I know they are just things and they are not important, but I can't bear the thought of loosing them after you took care of them for so many years, with so much affection.

I am happy I could be with you during your last days. I feel relieved I could make sure that you didn't find yourself alone and that you had all you needed. I miss you now and will miss you always. It takes all sorts to make a world but you were amongst my favourite.