I was only 7 years old when this day arrived.
As a young girl I spent a lot of time staying at my grandparents' home, off and on, growing up.
One evening my grandfather called for me to come to him.
I got out of my bed and went to where he was sitting in the lounge, in front of a warm fire.
It had become obvious to my grandfather that I was struggling to cope in a certain area of my life.
He asked me if I was afraid of the dark.
To that I replied with an honest, ''yes''.
He asked me if I knew why I was afraid of the dark.
And to that I said I didn't know.
He then had me sit on his little footstool, right in front of him, so we were now face to face.
He went on to tell me what he knew about the dark.
Just to state the facts, he said there was nothing to be worried about when it comes to the dark.
He asked me if I was interested in knowing why?
Of course I was curious enough to answer with ''yes''.
He said only one thing changes when it comes to night and that's the colour of the air.
I took a little time to process what he had just said to me and for a second I wondered if he was telling me the truth.
He just nodded his head and said, ''Yep, that's it, that's all. Just the colour of the air is all that ever changes, nothing else''.
I responded with words like ''wow'' and ''I didn't even know that only the colour of the air changes''.
Talk about being completely sold on this theory.
It was as though I had instantly become this brave little warrior princess.
This amazing and newly found knowledge allowed me to get out of bed at night all by myself to go and visit the room two doors down from mine.
I could sleep without the need for the hallway lights to be left on.
I'm not 100% sure exactly what age I was when I figured out for myself that my grandfather only said that to help me not to be afraid.
I have to say I smile every time I remember this thoughtful wise old owl. His nickname, given to him by the local taxi drivers, was ''Snow'', because of his white hair.
And if I didn't know better I could have mistaken him for an earth-angel.
• Naomi Nelio grew up on the North Island east coast, but now lives in Dunedin. She is mother to seven children and grandmother to one.
