As the youngest of 3 children Dad was 45 when I was born.  Dad was away at sea with his work quite a lot and I remember being very excited when he would return home for a week or fortnight.   Dad was always very kind, warm & loving.

He had a very mischievous streak and one of his favourite tricks in winter was to tie up my pyjamas in knots.  This meant that when I undressed in my bedroom and tried to put on my PJ’s in a hurry, because I was cold, I had to then untie them first!  I would scream out “Dad!!!”, and then find him in the kitchen in fits of laughter!

Another of his tricks involved eating a whole bar of chocolate unbeknownst to Mum as she unpacked the supermarket shopping.  Mum would often buy 3 blocks of chocolate for the cupboard but if Dad sighted “Bar o’nuts” he would sneak away and consume with great delight.  The result would be much laughter once his deed had been uncovered.

Dad was a keen lover of opera music and in my memory had a great singing voice.  He had firm ideas though on what constituted good music and many debates took place in the family regarding modern music.  One of Dad’s favourite sayings to my brothers at the end of these debates was “you wouldn’t know a bar of music from a bar of soap”.

As I grew older I realised Dad was unique.  He didn’t say a lot really and wasn’t overly social. He didn’t talk of his experiences during the war unless asked but I think he had many memories that he continued to process. 

Looking back, I remember Dad as someone who loved his family and a few friends very much but otherwise he kept to himself.  He loved his car, driving and encouraging me when I was young to practice swimming so I could one day beat my older brothers in the pool (was never going to happen!)

Dad was the best – someone I love dearly and will always miss with all my heart.