Sadness and Smiles

Early this morning we were woken to a call we'd been expecting for a while. Sadly Catherine's Dad, Tom, who has been ill for some time, was not expected to see the day out.

We went straight over to his home in Addingham where he lived with Trisha, Catherine's sister; after a few minutes I went to fetch Catherine's boys Tom & Callum, and when we got back, their Granddad Tom had sadly passed away.

Tom was a good man, a decent man, a man who knew dignity, in every sense of the word. He enjoyed Tea from Betty's and always dressed well. He did things and liked things to be done *right*. A keen cyclist all of his life, he loved Yorkshire and he knew every tea room in the Dales, and they probably all knew him. An artist with a twinkle in his eye who understood the beauty the world has to offer; he would *hand paint* birthday cards and his paintings are beautiful.

He loved his family and they love him.

As the day moved on in a blur, time slowing and speeding up in equal measures, it was important to keep busy, to go with the flow, and we decided to visit the Light Garden in Bradford.

I remember my Mum saying when my dear Granddad died many years ago that she couldn't understand how the world was carrying on. There were people laughing in the streets, cars still cutting her up, didn't they know her Dad had just died?

And maybe that's exactly the point. It's important to mourn but it's important to live too.