I sat and thought about being a child and running in the garden. We used to put the inflatable pool out and swim until our skin started to shrivel. It was so cold outside some nights when it started to get dark but my grandfather would turn on the outdoor wall lighting and we knew our fun would continue into the evening.

There was an old barrel that was cut in half that we used as a fire pit. We would sit around it like pioneers and tell stories and roast marshmallows or hot dogs and on the rare occasion my grandfather would get out his tent and we would sleep amongst the stars. He would always leave on the outdoor wall lighting just in case we became afraid of the dark.

If that garden could talk the stories it would tell. From my first kiss to my first broken heart. Secrets were shared in the warm evening air and bonds were made that can never be broken. Who would have thought that a garden could have meant so much.

And now as I sit here looking over it with the weeds and the rubbish, I realise that my priorities in life had changed so much since those days in the garden. The outdoor wall lighting was the only thing that remained of what once was a haven of happiness. Somehow as I looked over it now it seemed so small and that I had outgrown its charm a long time ago.

The decision to sell the house seemed such a callous one considering he was just going into a home. I felt as though he was being betrayed in some way. However apparent it was that he could no longer care for himself or the house with the pride of his garden being just one symbol of his inability to cope any longer. So I vowed at that point to clean the garden and make it the place that had offered me so many happy memories.

I decided to replace the outdoor wall lighting with something more modern. I had the greenhouse removed and in its place I put a commemorative bench surrounded by pots filled with flowers. I planted a tree where the vegetable garden once grew in hopes that the new owners would watch it grow blossom and create memories of their own. I took photos of the garden at dusk with the outdoor wall lighting on to give it that familiar glow. I then took them to my grandfather and placed them near his bed. Nobody knows if he remembers, but I see it in his eyes and I think he knows what it meant to me and it’s a memory of him that will last through eternity.