Graham's stairs

It was all I could do to prevent my televisual viewing over the festive season turning into a blubfest.

Daughter was determined to watch Marley & Me - the Jennifer Anniston movie featuring a yellow Labrador - but I refused.  I knew how it would end.  It would end with me sobbing loudly, as every film featuring a dog has, ever since I first watched Lassie films from the age of about four.

I watched the animated film Up again.  I was bawling shortly after it started - the whole essence of married life, love and loss is taken and encompassed in that first ten minutes.  Then there was Grandpa's Great Escape on New Year's Day, very moving and yet more tears from me.

Bizarrely, even adverts had me getting emotional - has anyone else seen the one featuring Graham, an elderly man, repeatedly going up the stairs in his house, in various precarious scenarios? 

I first saw it on Christmas Day - I held my breath as he nearly tripped over the vacuum cleaner hose and cable, then there was a narrow escape when his cat sat on the stairs causing a further potential trip hazard.

Then we saw him balancing a tea tray, loads of washing, a huge box of DIY tools, all while he negotiated the 'stairs of doom' and the landing filled with more hazards.

Was this an advert for stair lifts I thought at one stage, care homes, or even accident prevention?

Then suddenly Graham was no more, and I felt sad, but the house instead had a young couple and a baby who headed straight for the stairs - 'I hope they've got a good stair-gate' was my first thought.

What had became of Graham, did those pesky stairs finally lead to his untimely demise?  No, sigh of relief all round, he and his wife moved to a bungalow they'd found on Rightmove, who were responsible for this tear-jerking advert.  I was very relieved it had a happy ending - I just wish I could get the theme tune out of my head!