Demo
← leave the demoMemories of
1941 – 2024
She kept the radio on all night and the back door unlocked. If you knew her, tell us something we would not otherwise know.
Ellen Vance was stubborn & patient·an experience of saying goodbye
In the hospital she still did the Saturday crossword, in pen. One clue beat her and she would not let any of us tell her. On the Sunday morning she had it, and wrote the date in…
Added to “Wrong bus, right day”
Ellen Vance was funny & stubborn·an experience of laughing too hard
I was the one who said it was the wrong bus, three stops in. She told me buses go where they are going and so were we. Ani still has the chip paper somewhere, folded in a book.
Ellen Vance was a neighbour & generous·an experience of being seen
The winter I was nineteen my boiler went out, two doors down from her. I came home to a note on my mat: "Back door is open, soup is on the hob." I ate at her table for a fortnight…
Added to “The garden in August”
Ellen Vance was a teacher & stubborn·I was scared·an experience of being forgiven
I was there that afternoon too. What Ruth does not know is that I had already pulled up half a row that morning trying to help, and Ellen never told her. She just quietly reseeded…
Ellen Vance was a teacher·I was young·an experience of ordinary Tuesdays
She had me thin the carrots and would not tell me why some had to go. "You will see in September," she said. In September I saw.
Ellen Vance was funny·I was in over my head·an experience of getting lost & laughing too hard
She got us on the wrong bus out of the city and refused to admit it for forty minutes. By the time we worked out where we were it was too late to get back, so we had chips on a…
Ellen Vance was a stranger·I was the new kid·an experience of being seen
We found it in the desk. Two pages to a friend she had fallen out with in 1978, finished and folded and never posted. I had known her my whole life and had no idea she carried…
Ellen Vance was patient·I was in over my head & scared·an experience of first jobs
I stalled her car eleven times on the hill by the bakery. She did not raise her voice once. She just said "again" and looked out the window like she had all afternoon, which I…
Ellen Vance was stubborn·I was young·an experience of ordinary Tuesdays
She left the kitchen radio on all night, every night, for thirty years. She said the house sounded wrong without it. After she moved in with us I caught myself turning ours on at…