Doreen Elsie Dye

Doreen Elsie Dye, my Nan
Went to be with Grandad Doug on 20th April 2003

Nanny lived in Leytonstone most of her life, then in Milton Keynes for 16 months.

Our Nanny noo-nah, Nanny Garden

Nan was such a lovely person, kind, considerate and very loving.
Nan was born in Leytonstone, East London. Her Mum was Ella and her Dad Tommy, she had 2 sisters and 1 brother, Vera, Sylvia and Bert, Sister in-law Ena and Brother in-law Jack. Sadly Sylvia passed away when she was a child, she had peritonitis. It would have been nice to have met her, Nan spoke about her a lot. Nan met Grandad Doug they were very young about 13 I think, and they remained together until Grandad left us to be our angel in 1988. Nan was heartbroken as we all were, we really didn’t think she would be able to cope, but she proved us wrong she did, although she missed him terribly. Nan had a little job cleaning for a Vicarage and a Dr, that kept her occupied, and she loved ironing and housework. (I certainly don’t get that from you Nan, I hate ironing, but I love housework)

Nan lived for her family, we were all her treasures. Nan and Grandad had 4 children, Sylvia, Donald, John & David, she loved her Daughter in-laws Ciss, Ann and Joan, and her son in-law Ronnie. Then we all came along her Grandchildren, Jon, Lee, Anita, Sharon, Lisa, Joanne, Michael and Paul. She watched us all grow up and was very proud of us all, then she became a Great Nan, when I found out I was pregnant with my first son, I was worried about telling her that I was pregnant as I wasn’t married. Nan and Grandad had quite old fashioned values. Me and Mum went round to see her, I remember it was a Saturday afternoon, I said “Nan I have got something to tell you” her face was a picture, she was so chuffed that she was going be a Great Nan, I told her that I was worried about telling her she said "well neata it’s the 90’s I know what goes on" which we laughed about. Once she had stopped the tears, (we are a very tearful lot) she asked me if I could make sure that the baby called her Nana, she said that she always wanted to be called Nana, we called her Nanny noo-nah or Nanny Garden. I told her that I would make sure that her wish would come true. Liam arrived on my Dad’s birthday which was very special, I came home the same day, and Dad went to collect Nanny noo-nah and my other Nanny Isa to come and see their first Great Grandchild, it was such a special moment to see them holding him. They were so happy. When he started saying things I taught him to say Nana, when Nanny noo-nah heard it for the first time, yes you guessed it the tears were flowing again. Then as he got older he called her Nana noo-nah….

We called her Nanny Garden because she had a great big garden, which we used to love playing in, Grandad made a mini golf course, we had bikes to ride and a box of soldiers to play with, a great big pear tree we used climb it and pick the pears when they were ripe, there was a bomb hole, apparently a bomb dropped in the garden during the war and left a bit dip in the grass, we used to lay in it trying to hear it ticking, and we used to pick the daisies and make daisy chains. We always took them to Nanny and she used to put them in a little egg cup with water in. When I go to the cemetery I always find a daisy or two and place them with the flowers I lay for her and Grandad.

We used to have family parties, and have great times. What Nan loved the best was to have all her family around her, she used laugh all the time, we used to play the alphabet game, (remember that Nan) we had to go around in a circle and name something beginning with the letter that was next such as A for apple, B for Banana etc, but as always it turned out be rude like naming body parts, Nan used to cry with laughter. She used to come out with some right ones hee hee which was so funny, but prompted on by us.

10 years ago Nanny discovered she had a lump in her breast, she found it at Christmas and kept it to herself, I was going to visit her to take her presents round as she was going to stay with my Uncle Dave and Aunt Ann, when I got there Nan was washing up, with tears streaming down her face, I asked what was wrong and she said that it was the time of year and she missed Grandad, we had a cry, cuddle and a cuppa and had a chat, she never told me about the lump. I wish she had. She went to Uncle Dave’s for Christmas. The week or so after Christmas Dave called Dad to say that Nanny had told them about a lump she had found then everything happened quite quickly, she went to the Dr and had tests and it was confirmed that she had breast cancer, we were all totally devastated, she went into hospital (Nan had a fear of hospitals and dentists but, she was so brave to have gone through what she did, we all know about her dentist visit when she was younger and that she escaped through the window), she had the lump removed and then went on to have radium treatment. After a few months of heartache and tears Nan was given the all clear, we were so happy, again she coped brilliantly, obviously she had her ups and downs but we were so proud of her.

Then a couple of years after Nan discovered a patch on her leg, she went to Dr’s and he confirmed that it was Melanoma and she started having treatment for that, they decided to freeze the growth out. They did, but for some reason it just wasn’t healing, it developed into an ulcer, again treatment started on that, she went through months of pain and discomfort and all sorts of different processes to try and cure the ulcer. Nan had decided in the meantime that she could no longer cope with living in and looking after a big house on her own, so she decided to move into sheltered accommodation in Milton Keynes. Her leg was healing by this time, and she was starting to look to the future again, looking forward to moving to a nice new flat. She moved there a few weeks before Christmas in 2000 it was sad to see her leaving the house she had bought up her children and grandchildren in, the house had lots of happy memories, but as we said to her you can take all those memories with you. (I wrote her a little poem of my memories which is on here) She was still having treatment for her leg, and they were pleased that it was healing after a many months of treatment. Christmas came and went.

2001 was not a good year for us, I lost my other Nanny Isa in the January very suddenly, and in the March my Dad was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Dad have to give that awful news to her, but we were all positive and he started treatment (chemo) he is now in remission, then Nan’s leg started to get bad again they (the Dr’s) told her that she had a germ in it, and was put on all sorts of drugs, in the end she couldn’t walk unaided and then it was recommended that she went into a cottage hospital for rest, so she could keep off her leg so it could heal, well it didn’t, the hospital was a very depressing place, we could visit anytime and there was a particular nurse that Nan said was horrible, she didn’t want us to complain because she thought it would be taken out on her, (how disgusting is that) she had to have complete bed rest, and was in there for a good few weeks, her leg was not getting better but worse, we were all worried, then she developed a bed sore on her back, the cottage hospital decided to transfer her to the main hospital in Milton Keynes, this is where she deteriorated very quickly, she developed Septicaemia (I think to this day it was MRSA) and bronchial pneumonia. It was Easter Friday that we got a phone call from my Uncle saying that she had taken a turn for the worse, we went to the hospital on the Saturday to see her, and she was in a coma, we were told to expect the worse, it was devastating to see her lying there all because of an infected wound. We stayed there until about 10.00 that night, it was so hard to leave her, everyone said their goodbyes to her, I don’t believe in goodbyes, so I said “night night Nanny noo-nah I love you” We drove home to London in silence. I was woken up in the middle of the night to the phone ringing, it was my Mum telling me that Nanny had gone. It was Easter Sunday the 20th April, I couldn’t believe that I lost my most precious Nan’s a few months apart.(I hope Grandad met her with a great big Easter Egg she loved chocolate)

We have lots of lovely special memories of our Nanny noo-Nah, she was a very special person, she taught us all about spiritualism and healing. Nan and Grandad were faith healers years ago. Nan taught us not to be afraid if we experience something we can’t explain. Well Nan you are OUR Angel now, and I know that you watch over all of us with such love and pride. I hope we all turned out how you wanted us to.

This is for you Nan your own special site where we can come and visit and leave our love for you.

We all love and miss you so much Nan we send our love to you every day lots of love from:- Your Sons, Don, John and David, your Daughter Sylvia, Daughter in-laws, Ciss, Ann and Joan, your Son in-law Ronnie, your Grandchildren, Jon, Lee, Anita, Sharon, Lisa, Joanne, Michael and Paul, your Great Grandchildren, Liam, Scott, Louis, Jay, Amy, Emily, and Maddison. Your Grandchildren in-law, Jacky, Rex, Mark, Kelly, Mark and David, also your special Neice Shirley xxxxx

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I would like to thank all those passers by that have lit candles and left messages, it really does mean a lot xx



God bless you Nanny Noo Nah xxxxxxxxxx