h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

You have been missed! I was wondering where you were, why we hadn't seen you around PR recently. I actually came over to say your expertise was required in a PR reviewing thread: F48874?thread=4254604

Since then, though, I confess to reading a couple of your messages and now realise why the silence. I am sorry to hear of your loss, Al.


Wilma

Thanks Wilma,

I'm still feeling a bit morose and little things upset me. F'instance, Sunday was Father's Day - which I'd forgotten about.

So, when some mail arrived on Saturday I said to Mrs BigAl, 'Why has J sent me something that looks like a birthday card'. She then informed meit was Fathers Day on the morow.

On theSunday we had phone call from my stepmother because she was feeling very lonely. This was the day that myfather would've been reciving lots of cards from his sons (6 of them) and grandchildren - but, obviously, none casme. I was emotionally totally unprepared for this.

You know, it strikes me that in this day and age when parent/child relationships seem so fraught with angst and anger, it is absolutely beautiful to know a man who can grieve so well for his father. I don't think there is any greater honour a son can offer, all the more precious for its rarity. Are you his oldest son, Al?

No, I'm the 3rd eldest. My eldest brother died some years ago - the consequence of a lifetime of smoking, drinking and debauchery. My 2nd-eldest brother, C, is permanently esconced in a nursing home, having had a bad car accident about 7 years ago. He is left with only long-term memory so, with only two exceptions that I am aware of, he doesn't recognise people he didn't know before his accident. This includes the staff in the nursing home. One of the exceptions is my 5 year old grandson. I often taken him with me when I go to visit C, as he provides a centre for conversation. C usually remembers his name and, wonder of wonfders, realises that he is not MY son, but my daughter's son . We're not sure whether he had a stroke which caused the crash, or the crash caused the symptoms of a stroke. We think the former because his airbags inflated correctly and, according to eyewitness accountsa he was driving fast but safely immediately before the crash. (He had overtaken some cars on a fairly bendy road and when the leading car rounded a bend she saw C' car, having hit a tree, facing back the way he'd come. I've seen the trick motorcyclist, Eddie Kidd, interviewed for TV and he had an accident where he'd landed directly on his head and, although he is wheel chair-bound, he doesn'thave the brain impairment that my brother has.

Something I am finding rather sobering at the moment is that I am now older than both my Mum and my my oldest bother when they died, and C when he had his accident


Because I'm now the eldest son who is still 'compis mentis',and the most local, I have been responsible for my father's funeral arrangements.

I will get properly back to hootoo at some stage.