Last week I went on holiday with my 88 year-old great auntie Joan.  She lives in Manchester and asked my mum about going away on holiday, thinking that she was still able to get about on her own.  Unfortunately, despite her ambition, she is getting too frail to get about easily and needed an escort to make her holiday happen. That’s where I came in.  I volunteered, knowing that it would be a fantastic opportunity to spend some never-before-enjoyed quality time with a lovely lady who is like a grandma to me.

Joan lived with her sister her whole life up until a couple of years ago when Lilian, 10 years her senior, had to move into a care home.  A year later, Lilian passed away, leaving Joan alone for the first time ever.  Joan has coped with this adjustment surprisingly well but it is still not always easy and my parents and my cousin do a lot for her. I felt it was definitely my turn.

After a bit of deliberation about destination (Joan’s choice of Holland was a little ambitious), we settled on North Wales since it is a place Joan spent many happy holidays with Lilian and it is also just a short drive from Manchester.  Joan loves the seaside so we picked a hotel on the water and I was delighted by its views and the general luxury.  If you ever need somewhere to stay in North Wales, I cannot recommend The Quay Hotel in Deganwy enough.  They looked after us without an ounce of condescension and both of our rooms were lovely.

The day we arrived we settled into our hotel rooms and had a rest after the journey. We then had a delicious meal in the sensational Vue Restaurant at the hotel which had impeccable service and breathtaking views of Conwy with its castle and walls one way and Conwy estuary the other way.

We spent the first day in Angelsey, exploring the island and then meeting up with an old family friend of Joan’s.  Di is the daughter of Peggy, an old work friend of Lilian and they have spent many holidays in Beaumaris, staying at Di and Peggy’s house. I was able to go for a swim / sauna / steam room when we got back to the hotel.

The second day we visited Conwy in the morning – borrowing a wheelchair from the hotel was a genius move as we were able to get about a lot easier (giving me some much needed exercise!).  The weather was much more unsettled and fearing a downpour with Auntie Joan stuck in a chair, I got us back in the car and driving through Snowdonia across the beautiful mountains to the west coast and Portmeirion village.  The weather only deteriorated and the rain set in.  We braved the rain (Joan wrapped up in my rain coat and me in my t-shirt!) and pushed our way through the village.  It was quite a relief to get back in the car and returning to the warmth and comfort of the hotel.

Joan shared some fantastic stories about her time in the WAAF (she was so desperate to join during the war that she phoned them to remind them she was old enough).   It was there she learned how to be a telephone operator.  When we returned to her flat after the holiday, she showed me some of her pictures.

She went on to work for ICI for 40 years and then for a shorter time at DITB as a telephone operator, a profession which is now obsolete but she worked in that golden age when people needed someone to connect their call.  I love this poem written in her farewell card when she left her last job at DITB:

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to knit at work?!  It was really nice to get to know Auntie Joan better and learn about her active life which was full of laughs, friends and experiences.