My Fathers Eyes

It would have been my father’s 89th birthday today. But he didn’t miss out when we did the family tour on Tuesday - I visited the churchyard to leave this little Christmas arrangement. And I can easily imagine how annoyed he would have been at only getting one present. Just because his birthday was on Christmas Eve, it was an absolute no-no giving a “joint” present. To even suggest doing so would have him reaching for the will to strike the offender off the list of beneficiaries! So, separate presents it was, without fail.
Although he is missed, I can’t help but think that it may be a small blessing that he is no longer with us, as he would not have coped very well with this year. A very sociable - and social - man, his life revolved around friends and family. As you might have guessed from the little engraving at the bottom of the headstone he was really into his cricket and would spend every moment he could down at the local club - as much for the social life as for the actual matches. I suspect a summer spent mostly in lockdown, not being able to freely mix with others, would have been quite stressful for him. We are very different in that respect - I am quite happy undertaking solo activities, or just being with one or two others - I don’t feel the necessity to be in a crowd to have a good time.
One thing I do know for certain though, is that he would not have held back from giving us his opinion on the pandemic and the government’s handling of it. So maybe we’re not that different after all!