In Granny’s kitchen

By maternal grandmother Enid had the palest, clearest blue eyes imaginable. They sometimes looked sad, but whenever she saw me they filled with pleasure and warmth. I only remember Granny with pure white hair, but paintings of her when she was young by her husband, Percy Jowett, a prolific artist and principal of the Royal College of Art, reveal her thick dark brown hair, which made her eyes look even more incredible. Enid, who came from a family of artists and musicians, had met Percy when they were both art students. They married and remained devoted to each other, but Percy died of a heart attack shortly after I came back from Damascus to live with Granny in London and attend boarding school in the country. It was probably Enid’s loss of Percy and mine of my mother who was so far away that made us need and love each other so much. In many valuable ways Granny became my mother.