Father's Day

My lovely children did me proud and I felt very close to them today; but purely by coincidence I was sorting out drawers and came across this picture of me with my own father thirty or so years ago. He retired on ill health grounds aged 55 and died aged 70 in 1995 - partly a result of illness acquired whilst in the army but also because of his own tendency to lead an extreme lifestyle. A well known figure in left wing politics in the 1970s, he was prematurely reported dead by The Guardian and I took great pleasure in correcting them; his actual obituary some time later described him as "a seriously informal dresser" amongst many other things.

The annoying thing about parents is you would like to talk to them when you are yourself older, but that generally can't happen. I don't believe that we meet up again in heaven but if I could have time in a celestial coffee shop with my old man, I like to think it would be a lengthy and pleasant conversation. I generally rang him once a week, and on a good day we could spend a couple of hours putting the world to rights. 

You can read one panegyric here

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Dix

which is written from the distinct position of someone who lived and breathed revolutionary politics, although it does successfully convey the sense that he was both unconventional and favoured the underdog. 

Anyway, he retired to rural Wales which is where this photograph was taken in the early 1990s. So I am thinking of him today, wondering what might have been if he had lived to tell me more of his life and beliefs.

My girl face timed me from Canada today and my boys cooked me dinner (with a significant amount of input from TSM who was a bit of a hero in the kitchen). I feel loved and contented. We can't change the past but we can chart the future, so I intend to make the most of however much time I have to try and be a decent person - starting with my own family.