Decorating with my Dad

As I did the decorating today I found my mind wandering back to when I first picked up a paintbrush. I must have been about 16 and Dad and I tackled the dining room in our bungalow which had a sloping flat roof and so was 14 feet to the ceiling at one end of the room. We put the roller on a long pole and worked out the technique to get the job done. Then it crossed my mind that it wasn't the first time we had painted together. As a child we would paint toy soldiers and airfix models together. When my brother and sister were young Dad had not had much spare time but when I came along 12 years later he had more time to spare and I benefited from that. So today, nearly 20 years since I last saw him, he was there, beside me and together we painted my office.