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Unexpected Turns: Last Words

sinking ship, like the Titanic, and someone came up to you and asked you what you thought about the weather?"

"I'd think he was a bit mad," said Dad.

"And here I am, with my heart stopped, and all you want to talk about is rugby and school and a lot of blather!"

"But you're not dead," said Mum. She was wondering, (I could see by the look on her face) if grandpa was cracking up. Old people did that sometimes.

"I may not have very long to go," said grandpa, "Maybe I've been given a little extra time because I have some loose threads to tie up ... I want to say some things to you all, and I don't care what you think about it. I'm going to talk!"

Dad forgot his newspaper. Mum hesitated between sitting and standing. Susan stared open-mouthed. None of us had seen grandpa like this before. It was as if, for the first time in our lives, we had really looked at him.

"When I first moved in with you," said grandpa, "I was very grateful. If you hadn't taken me into your home, I would have ended up in a Home, and I didn't want that. It meant losing my independence. I didn't want to be stuck away in a little room, always hoping for a visit from someone.

"But when I started living here, I noticed some things which made me very sad. I didn't say anything because I thought you might send me away if I spoke my mind. But it doesn't matter now. You can't do anything to a dead man!"

"Don't say that, please grandpa!"

"Susan, you go and play in the other room," said Mum, "And shut the door."

Susan grumbled into the living room and switched the TV on. She shut the door with a bang.

"First of all," said grandpa, "I want to say some things to you. (He looked at Dad) I'm concerned about the way you're living. Two jobs is wearing you out. You're driving yourself too hard. When you got married, you were happy to buy a small farm and enjoy life, but now you're obsessed with bigger and bigger farms. You never stop thinking about money, and working, and pushing yourself, when all you need to be happy is the small farm you started out with when you were in your twenties. You still haven't got to your farm, and your wife is falling to pieces while you work yourself to death!"

"Hey, wait a minute!" said Dad.


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