80th birthday

Drove up to my father's place in Middleton One Row, Middleton-St-George near Darlington in County Durham - north east England for those not in the know.

He had moved here after he re-married a few years after my mother's death. He had taken the loss very badly and I was concerned he would not last long. A lucky set of circumstances led to him remeeting a friend from long gone times, they probably hadn't seen each other since the late 50's. Gwen lived "up North" and I think he was only too pleased to leave Norfolk and all the memories. However he still loved Norfolk and had bought a timeshare at a golf and country club at Barnham Broome near Norwich and his birthplace, so that he could go back at least once a year.

Today was his 80th birthday and he treated Gwen and myself to lunch at a local restaurant. I may yet find a proper photo but stumbled on an off cut of a VHS video and am using a still from that for now.

One day I will put some more flesh on my relationship with my father but he was from a generation and a background which made "closeness" difficult. It wasn't until about this visit that we got close and it remained so until the end.

However, for me he was always a great Dad and I always admired him, even though at 60, he would still regularly beat me at table tennis - I never stood a chance at golf. When he died and I was closing down the last matters, the one word I heard from everyone who had anything to do with him was "Gentleman".