by Karen J Mossman
I have always kept a diary and in 1972 my Nana gave one to me.
There was one entry:
August 6th 1973: Aunty Bitch Rutter’s birthday, send 1oz of poison.
My 15 year old self had no idea what that meant or who it was.
It was some years later I realised Aunty Bitch Rutter was Nana’s sister. They fell out and didn’t speak for seventeen years. Sad really. I vaguely remembered a women looking like Nana but too young to know who she was. her as a little girl. Then I didn’t see her again until I was almost 20.
Aunty Kath was lovely and they were so alike. My mum said they spent as much time arguing as they did laughing and no one seemed to know or talk about the rift.
It was sad because Aunty Kath was lovely, and I loved seeing her and Nana together. They both talked to each other at exactly the same time carrying on a conversation as if it was normal. They laughed a lot and were often silly together and that was fun. Sadly we only had her for four years before she suddenly passed away.
I’ll never know why Nana decided she wanted me to see that and wrote it in the diary before giving it to me.
Now every year when they day comes I think of them and what fun and lovely people they were.
Karen J. Mossman 