After a turbulent year in 2008, at the beginning of 2009 me and my Mum started to notice various changes in My Gran how she would become more tired more easily, we put it down to the exhaustion of the past years events. As I turned 18 and more months passed, we noticed more, hard to deal with changed in Betty, she had now come to stay with us for a short period of time whilst my Granda was away, so we noticed these changes more and more. A very fit and active woman throughout her life It just wasn't like her to be that tired all the time she couldn't sit up for long so would lie down alot. Never a big eater anyway, she started to decline more and more foods this was becoming increasingly worrying to us as she was dropping wight fast. Never one to complain My Brave Gran carried on once she had her little lie down doing her everyday tasks which she actually enjoyed for example doing the dishes and ironing to help out my Mum not complaining about anything but making sure everyone else was O.k. Weeks passed some more and the daily favours she enjoyed doing had ceased, she just didn't have the strength anymore. We would always tell her to leave and we would do it but she always insisted even up until this point when she couldn't anymore she was still asking if there was anything she could do to help, We helped her and made sure she was comfortable at all times and tried to get her to eat and drink her favourites, It wasn't possible for her. This was very distressing to watch especially beacause we never knew what was causing this. We seeked further medical help again and explained the situation they found a tumor in My Grans Lung but said it was only an infection so they gave her antibiotics and said it would clear in time. We were relieved to hear this news. A few weeks later just like before she would have her good and bad days, one minute she would be up buzzing around like herself only smaller in frame and the next lying on the couch sleeping, I would sit with her most nights when I came in from work and we would watch True Movies, her favourite channel she always liked to watch "Weepy Films" as she would say, and having our nighltychats about what went on in Deal or No Deal and Golden Balls to of her favourite programmes. I noticed she would always ask If i din't like something she was watching and was going to watch something up the stairs to go down and check on her and see if she was all right. I said I would so when I was finished watching my programme I would go down and see her. Usually she was fiddling about with the remote trying to change the channel she never did know how to work Sky. It wasn't until she kept asking me to do this until I found it strange, did she not want to be alone, was she fed up? these questions kept on passing through my mind, no-one knew what was wrong. She honored a great smile throughout these challenging times on her body, there came a week, where she ended up not eating a thing the odd tub of custard which she liked to eat and nothing much else. We noticed the weight falling off more rapidly and could now see the physical effects of this. It was very upsetting and we just wanted her to eat. This is when she explained to us that she couldn't she was frightened she was going to be sick. We called the doctor in once again, by this time she was visiting the hospital for regular check-ups and this time we were advised to seek help from a Hospice enviroment we found this bizarre. My Granda soon returned home again and he and My Gran moved back into their own house again, Shortly afterwards things got worse and we called our family from Australia home as we knew time was approaching to say goodbye. They helped out alot, still the same weight loss, pain in the arm, tiredness, but as always a bright Betty, walking around making everyone Tea when she could find the energy. She was up telling us stories of how her trousers fell down when she got out the car a few days before hand when she got out of the car, all in good spirits. It was Friday 19th June 2009 and we had just got a hospital bed in to the house for my gran as the medical teams had told us that it was all about making her comfortable now and we noticed signs of restlessness, she was up walking around, sitting down, lying down, changing position. She was saying she was hot so we would cool her down and then saying she was cold so we would wrap her up. We called in the district nurses and they made sure that her recently fitted medication pump with pain relief, nausea relief was fitted correctly and she settled. A few hours later she was complaining of discomfort in her stomach area we thought his would have been the effects of the medication pump. Shortly after, she started to disorientate a great deal, saying she could see tings that weren't there but the whole family just sat with her and talked her through these hallucinations and she calmed down, by this time though, she was starting to gasp for air, this is when we thought in the best interest of my gran we should call an ambulance, she was taken to hospital and they told us again its all about you as a family being there for her making her feel safe and as comfortable as possible, she was given a higher dose of medication for pain relief, she was starting to slip into unconsciousness until she could no longer communicate or see any of us. We stayed the rest of the day Saturday and right through the night by her bedside holding her hand talking to her about all of our memories making sure she was at peace until she took her last long slow breath of relief at approximately 9:08am. She was finally free from pain and discomfort, she had raised her family well and she went in peacefully knowing we had learned so much from her. It was later declared that she had Lung Cancer, we think she had known about this but are still not quite sure, and this may have been why she wanted me to sit with her or if not check on her, regardless of this, If she did know I have the most respect in the world for not wanting to dwell on it, she was Happy in what she knew, and if she never, she knew all too well about her symptoms and still never dwelled on it or made herself a burden on anyone else. She fought with great courage,was conscious and still up on her feet right the way through until only 2 days before she moved on. What a Brave and Inspirational person getting through and Illness the way she did. I miss Betty each and every day, she lives on in my memories and heart, and I have to say I am Extremely honored to call her My Gran. Love You Always.x