Iris Burgess shares her true life story:
I felt like my whole world had come crashing down.
“But I don’t understand.” I said to my husband, Colin. “I mean, you don’t even look sick.”
We’d just returned from a six week tour of Europe.
We’d planned it for years, and we’d had such a happy time.
But towards the end of the holiday, Colin had caught a cold and couldn’t shake it off so when we got back, he went for a chest x-ray.
Now we had the results. Lung cancer, and it was advanced too.
The news had knocked us both for six.
“There’s nothing they can do,” he said, sadly. “The doctor says I have four months left at the most.”
Iris and Colin on their wedding day.
Colin, 75, and I had been together since I was 15 and he was 17.
We’d married just over a year later and went on to have five children.
He was such a loving hubby, always kissing, cuddling and complimenting me.
He had a great sense of humour and had taught our kids to always look on the bright side of life.
We were so close and spent every day together drinking tea and chatting away.
I couldn’t imagine life without him.
But somehow, we had to go on.
We had to make sure we made the most of the time he had left.
We were sitting having a cup of tea one day when I saw him staring in to space.
“What are you thinking about, love?” I asked.
“I want to come back as a fly on the wall one day,” he smiled, rubbing his hands together.”So I can be near you.”
It wasn’t the first time I’d heard him say it.
But now he really was going to die.
Colin and I had such a great life together.
Colin had been quite sullen since his diagnosis so I was trying my best to stay upbeat for him.
It was sad watching his health deteriorate over the following months.
He lost his happy, healthy glow and become thin, pale and was coughing constantly.
He was adamant he didn’t want to spend his last days in hospital so I nursed him at home.
Our grown-ups kids were always popping in to see him, too.
I was surprised when one of our sons, Paul, turned up with a bunch of flowers on Valentine’s Day.
“Dad asked me to buy them for you,” he said. “And this too.”
He then pulled a lovely Bonsai plant out of the car.
My heart swelled.
Colin was such a sweetie.
He’d been spoiling me on Valentine’s Day for more than 50 years.
But I never expected he’d remember while he was in such a state.
“Let me give you a kiss and hug you old softie,” I said, hugging him.
Three days later he died in my arms.
“I’ll always love you,” I whispered through my tears.
“I couldn’t believe it”
I felt a bit numb the next day as visitors popped in and out, offering their well wishes.
I was about to mop the kitchen the day after when I noticed a fly sitting on the floor.
Strange thing was it was staring at me. It was watching my every move.
Then I remembered what Colin had said about coming back as a fly on the wall.
“Could it be him?” I wondered.
To find out what Iris did next, listen to the latest episode of Take 5 Ripper Real Life podcast. Fast forward to 9:30 in the player below to go straight to her story.
