15th June 1983
About 2.30pm 19 years ago, I had a phone call from my friend Sue telling me she thought she'd seen my dad being taken away in an ambulance. I had to call mum to ask if he was home -- her response was that he wasn’t and that she was worried about him. My brother Raymond (who was off school that day) was out on his bike looking for him. Dad died on the way to the hospital of a heart attack (his 4th I think). He was called David John, but for some reason all his friends called him ‘Joe’.
So today I’ve been to the crematorium with mum and put some flowers in the Book of Remembrance Hall they have there. The grounds have been set out like woodland and we have a stroll in the sunshine. I can’t believe he has been dead for nearly half my life. I don’t think I miss him deeply (as I know I would miss mum), but I am sad at all the things he never got to see -- like his grandchildren and things like that. I wish I had known him better when he was alive. I can’t tell you much about his views on life or what he liked or disliked.
He was a Labour supporter all his life. I’m not sure he would approve of the way the party has changed.
Before his first heart attack we would always by him a cigar for Christmas, and I also associate that smell with him and with that time of year. He loved horse racing and would bet on the horses most days. Saturdays he would sit going over the racing form in the papers working out which horse to place his bets on. I seem to remember he was never very lucky and I think picking the horse with a pin or because of its name was almost as likely to produce a winner.
He loved football and was a Southampton supporter as far as I can remember. I know that the year they won the FA Cup he was recovering from one of his heart attacks and wasn’t supposed to get stressed. He spent most of the match in bed but had to come down for the final 15 minutes because he couldn’t stand it any more. He would regularly do the football pools, but again was never lucky.
He would watch the wrestling on a Saturday afternoon -- not WWF, but ‘proper’ wrestling that was televised back then.
And his garden -- he always had a great garden full of vegetables and flowers. There would always be sweet peas for mum and all summer we would have fresh veg with our meals.
He would be sitting watching the England vs Denmark match now if he was still alive, getting as excited as the rest of us. I hope he’s watching it wherever he is.
Give them a helping hand, dad.
“It’s coming home....”
So today I’ve been to the crematorium with mum and put some flowers in the Book of Remembrance Hall they have there. The grounds have been set out like woodland and we have a stroll in the sunshine. I can’t believe he has been dead for nearly half my life. I don’t think I miss him deeply (as I know I would miss mum), but I am sad at all the things he never got to see -- like his grandchildren and things like that. I wish I had known him better when he was alive. I can’t tell you much about his views on life or what he liked or disliked.
He was a Labour supporter all his life. I’m not sure he would approve of the way the party has changed.
Before his first heart attack we would always by him a cigar for Christmas, and I also associate that smell with him and with that time of year. He loved horse racing and would bet on the horses most days. Saturdays he would sit going over the racing form in the papers working out which horse to place his bets on. I seem to remember he was never very lucky and I think picking the horse with a pin or because of its name was almost as likely to produce a winner.
He loved football and was a Southampton supporter as far as I can remember. I know that the year they won the FA Cup he was recovering from one of his heart attacks and wasn’t supposed to get stressed. He spent most of the match in bed but had to come down for the final 15 minutes because he couldn’t stand it any more. He would regularly do the football pools, but again was never lucky.
He would watch the wrestling on a Saturday afternoon -- not WWF, but ‘proper’ wrestling that was televised back then.
And his garden -- he always had a great garden full of vegetables and flowers. There would always be sweet peas for mum and all summer we would have fresh veg with our meals.
He would be sitting watching the England vs Denmark match now if he was still alive, getting as excited as the rest of us. I hope he’s watching it wherever he is.
Give them a helping hand, dad.
“It’s coming home....”