The King of the Village

You know you’ve made an impact on the world when they close the village shop, cancel school pick up, and open the sports bar early, all in your honour.

That was my grandad.

But a few weeks ago, I didn’t know if I’d even get to say goodbye.

”I Don’t Know If We’ll Make It Back in Time”

With just over two weeks to go before we were due to leave, we still didn’t know if we’d make it back to the UK in time.

“Trust the timing of your life,” people say.

Right then, that felt hard.

He was such a big part of our connection to the UK. Through him we collected stories, laughter and memories. He seemed to know a little about almost everything, but most of all we loved his stories of growing up in India.

I remember parts of the history he shared with us, but many of those conversations happened years ago. Back then, it never occurred to me that one day I’d be wishing I could hear those stories again.

When someone you love is fading, time suddenly feels very fragile.

Is it better to remember them as they were? Or to sit beside them and say goodbye? I still don’t know the answer.

What I do know is that nothing stays the same forever.

Seven Grandparents, Seven Sets of Stories

I’m lucky enough to have seven grandparents. This week we lost one of them, and it has left a big gap in our family.

I thought we’d have one more summer with him.

He shared his stories so vividly. Growing up in India. Facts about everything under the sun. He was always so interesting to us as children.

I’m so glad I heard those stories. I hope I remember them all.

Seven grandparents means seven sets of stories, seven kinds of love, and so many more memories still to be made. Having such a big family is something I will never take for granted.

The King of the Village

The church was so full there weren’t enough seats. Stately homes opened their gates for parking. The bells, the choir, the organ, all practising for a week.

Tributes came from the bridge, cricket and tennis clubs, the horticultural society, and from family and friends he’d known since childhood, who spoke words that moved the whole room.

He wasn’t famous. He was just endlessly kind, endlessly present, and endlessly generous with his time. He was like a king of his village, and the gap he’s left behind says everything about the life he lived.

If I can make even a fraction of the impact he had, I’ll consider that a life well spent.

The Stories I Didn’t Record

This wasn’t how I expected to spend my holiday back in the UK.

One week after he passed, we signed the paperwork for his funeral and visited the aged care home where he spent his final months. That was the day I realised just how much I regret not recording his stories.

By the time FromBeyond.co was ready, his illness had already taken too much from him. I never got the chance to record his voice, his stories, or his most important wishes.

I have the memories. I don’t have him telling them.

Questions to Ask Your Grandparents While You Still Can

If I could sit beside him again, these are the questions I would ask, and this time I’d press record.

About where they came from

• What do you remember most about the place you grew up?
• What was your neighbourhood like when you were my age?
• What took you from where you grew up to where you live now?

About the life they built

• What was your first job?
• Who has been your closest friend, and how did you meet?
• What do you love most about the community around you?
• What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in your lifetime?

About what matters most

• If you could give advice to your younger self, what would it be?
• What do you want people to remember about you?
• Is there anything you’d like us to know, or to do, when you’re not here?

For more ideas, see our questions to ask your grandfather, and why the things we never ask become the things we wish we had.

Don’t Wait

This is exactly why we built FromBeyond.co. The stories, the wisdom, the way someone made a whole village feel looked after, these things deserve to be captured and kept, not just remembered by those lucky enough to have been there.

FromBeyond.co is so much more than a business to me. It’s about helping families keep the stories, voices and memories of the people they love, before it’s too late.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: don’t wait. The conversations you put off today may become the ones you wish you’d had tomorrow.

Because one day, these moments will become the stories we tell. And the stories we tell become the memories we hold onto.

Rest peacefully, Grandad. Thank you for everything you gave us.

Whose stories are you still waiting to ask for?

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Alice Footer, Co-Founder of FromBeyond.co

FromBeyond.co helps you capture and preserve the stories that matter most, before time runs out.