Saying Goodbye to Tom

Still streaming and sneezing today so I haven't been far.  This afternoon we drove over to Rawdon to say goodbye to our orienteering friend Tom.  As is usual at funerals, we met with old acquaintances from our sport so there were smiles amongst the sadness.  We spoke with Nicola, Tom's daughter who we last saw as quite a young woman and we reminded her of an orienteering event at Barns Cliff when our girls were small.  Tom's wife Eunice looked after our girls in their caravan (and plied them with homemade goodies) whilst we were on our runs.  When we returned, the caravan was cordoned off and our girls were keen to tell us they'd seen a snake!  Apparently it was basking on a stone not far from Tom's caravan.

Nicola told many stories of Tom in her fine tribute to the quiet, gentlemanly, witty man he was.  My favourite was in recent years he went to the Doctor with pains in his left leg.  The Doctor told him it was age to which Tom replied, well my right leg isn't painful and it's the same age!

At the Stansfield Arms afterwards, it was good to catch up with folks we hadn't seen in a while and find out about children and grandchildren.  And mentioning grandchildren, we received the best video from Euan's Christmas Play this morning.  He was narrator of 'The Jolly Christmas Postman' and loved reading the verse (complete with actions and appropriate faces!) and taking part in the dance.  We are very proud grandparents!