Eaglesham

I was brought up in a village called Eaglesham (so you can read it right I'll give you my gran's old saying "there's nothing sham about Eagles-ham"

I was back there this morning for the funeral of a dear old family friend. He died aged 90 and said he had no regrets as he had had a great life. He was born in Eaglesham and lived there all his days. He and his wife recently celebrated 62 years of marriage!

They were a constant presence throughout my childhood as true friendship had borne from the minister & funeral director alliance of my Papa and Uncle Sydney. Grandma and Aunt Isabel were also close as they had children the same age and worked together running the woman's guild and other church business.

They shared many holidays and good times and also shared the worst of times (he was a funeral director after all).

This is the house where my brother and I spent our early years (the door on the left), my mum was a single working parent and I believe she rented the flat from Uncle Sydney. The only memories I have of her are in this tiny wee house where we lived until she died in 1976 and we moved into the manse with my grandparents.

Uncle Sydney was a humble, funny, hard-working man. When I was wee he would make me laugh til my sides were sore. When I was a teenager he was the one my brother and I would turn to for practical help if we crashed a car, or locked ourselves out. As a young adult he offered support as we made our way in the world, setting up homes and having children but as our own families grew and life became busier I didn't see nearly enough of him, I've only realised that this week.

I try not to regret things I can't change, instead I try and learn from them. What bothers me most is that he doesn't know how much he meant to me and how much I appreciate all he did for our family over the past 50 years since they arrived in Eaglesham. I can't tell him, but I can tell you and I can tell Isabel, and I won't make the same mistake again.