Countdown (16)

I recently inherited a silver ring. Nothing of consequential value but it did belong to my maternal grandfather. Someone I never got to meet.

It is a simple ring engraved with pyramids and a palm tree. Apparently my grandfather worked in Egypt for a while. I suppose this is something he purchased while there. It is the only heirloom associated with him in the family.

The pyramids have always fascinated me. Architecturally they are amazing. Then there is so much mystery about how they were constructed. They were built at enormous financial and human expense. Although they have left a legacy that can be seen generations later I often wonder was it really worth it?

There was a time when I was captivated by stories of  supernatural phenomena. I read about psychokinesis – the ability to move object with just the power of the mind. I also read about the what some consider to be the special significance of the pyramids.

There are so many theories about pyramids it is often difficult to understand what is true and what is fantasy. At the end of the day what we are sure of is that they were built as burial places for the pharaohs and their families. In a way the pyramids have become more important than the people buried there.

Legacy

I lost my mother earlier this year. She had been losing strength for sometime. We knew she wasn’t well but it was unclear what she had. She got fed up of being tested and was happy to chug along through life while she could.

At Christmas she told me that she was considering going to a home. Up to this point she had vehemently refused the idea. She was an independent woman and was happy to soldier along in the small apartment she rented.

When she was eventually diagnosed with advanced cancer it wasn’t a surprise For her, or for us. And mum being mum she took it on the chin and started helping with the funeral arrangements. She was more worried about what was to become of her cat than herself!

That’s what mum was like. She had been widowed at a relatively young age, following what can only be described as not an ideal marriage. She dedicated herself to her four kids and when dad died, kept the family going. Three of us were still studying, while my big sister had only just started working. Despite her small pension she managed to keep food on our plates and kept the whole unit ticking over.

Despite everything, Mum loved to laugh. I supposed that’s why she put up with me. I was always the naughty one. I still remember one conversation where she told me look whatever you do, don’t bring any kids or nasty diseases home with a twinkle in her eye. That’s how I will always remember her.

She never got to build a pyramid. She didn’t even have an apartment to call her own. But mum’s legacy will always be her four kids who, in their own ways, are all doing okay. That, and a cheeky selfie she took while the nurses were cleaning her room. It was one of the last things she did before losing consciousness, and a few hours before she passed. We only found out about the selfie when my brother was trying to contact some of mum’s friends on her phone.

I suppose she had the last laugh.

*A Quote from Alan Parson’s Project: What Goes Up from the Album Pyramids

This blog is the sixteenth in a series of 30 leading up to my sixtieth birthday.  Thanks for getting this far. Please consider subscribing to my blog to keep up to date with my posts.

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