‘Hello Gramps, where are you?’ Olivia called as she let herself in the old house, and her first thought was that a window needed to be opened.
The house smelled like it had not been aired in a long time, a mix of cooking smells, dust, faint mold, and her grandmother’s magnolia perfume.
‘Coming!’
She heard the loo on the upstairs landing being flushed and then her grandmother’s feet shuffling above her.
Olivia went into the kitchen to unpack the groceries she had brought with her.
Although small, the kitchen was bright and welcoming. Her grandmother was not the tidiest of people, but she did keep the kitchen free of plates and leftovers, so Olivia was pleased to see how it looked.
It was a mystery to Olivia how her mother was her grandmother’s daughter. They were so different! Her grandmother was disorganized and not very trustworthy, while her mother had led her household with the determination of an army general, but maybe it had to with having four children to bring up, a full time job and a husband that was a useless dear.
‘I brought you smoked salmon, eggs, ice cream and tea. That is what you were missing right?’ Olivia had quite naturally developed the same organized manner her mother had.
‘Hello lovely!’ Her grandmother gave her a huge hug and a sloppy kiss.
‘Hello granny!’ Love and warmth enveloped them like an invisible cloud.
‘No fruit?’ The older woman asked with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.
Olivia laughed at their inner joke, a game they played for years, just the two of them for their own pleasure. She dug in the shopping bag and pulled out a plastic container full of yellowish grapes.
‘Do I ever?’ and they giggled.
‘Come let’s have tea in the living room, I want to chat to you about something.’ and she was off.
Olivia made the tea and carried it over to her grandmother now all sat in her chair surrounded by way too many cushions, some in the shape of plush animals.
The living room was not large, but what made it outstanding was the fact that all the walls, except for the one with the window, were covered in bookshelves filled with many, many books, some in a few rows, some stacked in front of the rows. It was really a large library in a very small room, with her grandmother at its center.
Of course, there was a TV in there with books framing it like an unusual art installation.
‘Tea!’ Viola, the grandmother, rubbed her hands in happy expectation.
‘You make the best tea Livy!’ Olivia blushed at the compliment and sat on a small armchair next to her grandmother.
‘What did you want to chat about?’ She asked after serving the tea and taking a sip of the hot, comforting liquid.
‘My books!’ And she made a fanning gesture towards the shelves surrounding them.
Olivia almost chocked, she was not ready for that.
‘Your books? What about them?’ She hoped it was about new shelves or something like that, and not about what she thought it might be.
‘Come on! Don't freak out, I am an old woman, it is normal to think about things!’ Sometimes Viola’s tone took her granddaughter completely by surprise, now she was talking like an Italian New Yorker and that made her smile.
‘Ok, not freaking out! Your books … what about them!’
‘Please don’t throw them away … when you know … I go …’
‘Oh granny, please, you’re killing me …’ Olivia felt tears gathering in the back of her eyes. She could not think of a day when her grandmother would not be there for tea, she felt nauseated and put her cup down.
‘No just listen, just this. I cannot bear the thought they will be thrown away, please keep the more valuable ones, I will sort them out, and give to charity the rest. Maybe somebody will still read them … can you please promise me that?’ The old woman had her younger version locked in her gaze.
‘Oh granny, you are killing me! Of course I will mind your books! I might even read some!’ And she gave a faint chuckle.
‘Thank you so much Livy, that means so much! I was thinking about starting to take them to the charity shops myself, one bag at a time, but when it came down to it I just could not part with any … ‘ And she let out a relieved although somewhat sad sigh.
‘No worries granny, and if you want we can start going through them, sorting them out … dare I say even dust them, to make sure I take care of them as you want me to.’
‘Really?’ The old woman’s eyes instantly were covered in tears. ‘That would be so amazing Livy, I would love to go through them with you!’ She now sounded like a happy little girl.
‘No worries gramps!’ Olivia felt so much joy at seeing her grandmother so happy.
‘You know, I read young people are going back to books, maybe we can sell some to them, no?
‘For sure!’
Olivia looked at the shelves again, not as clutter this time, but as something alive.
‘We’ve got this granny!’ and she took the old woman’s hand in hers, wishing that moment would last forever.