46. And because nothing is ever simple in our family, my son was home on leave from the army and said very glibly, 'Are you doing anything tomorrow Mum?'
'No, not really, why?'
'Would you like to go see your grand-daughter?'
That was the very first inkling that the girl, now 25 and utterly precious, was in my world.
I had known about my son's long-time girlfriend, she often penned a few lines at the end of his letters to me but certainly not that she was 'with child'.
I was so overjoyed.
I said, 'Can I tell people?!' and spent the next 60 mins ringing everyone I knew and no doubt boring them with my jubilation and pride as I cried, 'I'm a Grandma! I'm a Grandma!'
Because her own mother didn't even know she was pregnant, my dgd's Mum came to ask me if I would look after baby for a month whilst she visited and broke the news gently.
So I had dgd as a newborn and regularly throughout her life as Mum tried to complete her university degree.
We have a wonderful relationship even though she now lives and works in London. We keep in touch via Facebook.