Happy Birthday Gerard...

(Not) Uncle Gerard is Ninety years old today.
Married to my Mother’s sister Bunty for over 50 years, Gerard is quite simply the kindest, most gentle man I have ever known, an unassuming source of inspiration and respect within our family.
We couldn’t see him today, social distancing put a stop to that, so I made him a ‘shaking stick’, a sort of Morris dancer’s baton, a tailor’s metre rule, decorated with ribbons and bells and curlicues, the graduations of the rule marking out the significant moments of his life.
It took me all week, but I loved making it, I posted it yesterday and it arrived this morning.
I hope he liked it, he said he did...