George by Rachel Suzanne Albiston
It was about 10 years ago. I was 5 years old; I was really confused at the time and I didn’t know what was happening. Everyone was crying, my mum was home early from work and she was now phoning my dad. When my brother came home from school my mum told him what had happened and that George had cancer.
George was like an uncle to all of us. There was Me, Laura, Jillian, Crawford and Craig that were really close to him. At Christmas he would come though and give us presents and dress up like Santa. I can still remember the bulging pillows that he had stuck up the front of his homemade Santa suit.
Two months later George went to the hospital to go for an operation. A couple of weeks later he had to go back in and get tests to see if he was ok. The next week he went in to find out the results and he got the all clear.
The cancer that George had was lung cancer, He was really annoyed, because he was a non-smoker and he didn’t get why it was happing to him. He kept saying, ‘It’s not fair, what did I do to deserve this?’ Just last year it happened again, George got the cancer back. This time it was worse! This time George had lung and bone cancer. This time they couldn’t do anything about it because it was in the bones as well. Every one was really upset about it! I can remember the night like it was yesterday. Linda came over to speak to my mum, you could hear that she was upset so my mum went outside and closed the door a little behind her. I was sitting on the computer at the time and knew something was wrong so I started crying. My mum came back in and said ‘It’s George! I have go and tell Jim and Betty.’ So she went and told them what had happened.
I went upstairs and was crying my eyes out; I was really up set and I didn’t know what to do. I phoned my best friend at the time- Hayley - to tell her what had happened. When I phoned her she thought it was a prank call and was just about to hang up but then I managed to tell her that it was me.
It was the next day we had to tell Crawford what had happened. No one knows what to say: everything was quiet. There were no kids playing out side in the street, everyone was just staying in and going to see him to pay their respect. I went through to see him. At first when we went next door I couldn’t go into the room. I was too scared so my mum just went in and saw him first. When she came out she said it was fine and there was nothing to be scared of. I went in and didn’t know what to do. My mum came in with me but after a bit she left me so that I could be on my own with him.
Two weeks later it was the funeral. I was really up set. I couldn’t breath I was crying that much. When we first went in one my favourite song was playing; ‘If tomorrow never comes’. I was sitting in the second row from the front. The priest said some things about George and then his wife Eleanor read a poem out that she wrote about him, she then put a rose on the coffin then he went down and got cremated. A couple of week’s later his family came over from New Zealand and they went with Eleanor and buried the ashes. Every Easter, Christmas and on his birthday we go down and see him.
