Today would have been my Dad's 95th birthday so I thought being his day I would tell you about this very quiet shy man. He was born in 1911 in the county of Angus and lived near there all his life. He was married to my Mum for 46 years until she died in 1983. He fought in the second world war, a signalman in the royal Corp of Signals. He was a very active person loved the countryside first on a bicycle then a motor bike and sidecar and lastly by car. He documented every mile he travelled in his diaries and I still have them they are a absolute mine of information. He also kept a record of all the repairs on his modes of transport, when he put on tyres, changed oil etc as he did all his own maintenance on them. He moved from Dundee to be near to us after Mum died and was very happy in Glenrothes with us, in his little pensioners cottage. When we moved again he said he was too old to move again so he stayed there but it was not too bad as I still worked in Glenrothes and travelled there every day. He was a reader and read a great deal of the time. I still miss him a great deal as we were very close. I still find it very difficult to talk about him even although he has been gone nearly 8 years as it was me that found him the day he had a massive stroke and the memory does not fade of that day. The two pictures I have scanned are very old but I have done my best with them. The first is of Dad and his Golden Cocker Spaniel Rory taken on holiday at Inverness. The second is much earlier is of me pretending to be driving the motorbike with Dad on the pillion. It must have been taken about 1954 when is was 12. Well I will close now,
9 comments:
Dear Joan ..that was a special entry ,I enjoyed reading about your Dad, his diary's and his motorbike ,enjoyed meeting Rory ,Your right you never stop missing them,and what a pretty little girl driveing the motorbike !............Jan xx
Time passes by but our precious memories last forever don't they. Looks like you had a wonderful Dad..... My father has been gone 10 years now and I miss him too. He would have been 98 the 7th of march.... mom 93 the 4th of April.. both gone 10 years and still miss them.... It was good to have wonderful parents and memories though isn't it.... You sure were a cutie. Sandra
What a lovely tribute to your dear Dad. He would have been so proud. He sounds like a special and lovely man and how wonderful that you still have his writings. Yes, I remember the day I found my mother as well and the last time I saw my father, these things never leave you. Mum will have been gone 25 years this year, so hard to believe and I still miss her and Dad will have been gone for 20 years. Hardly a day passes when I do not think of them. Thank you for sharing your lovely photos. Makes me think I shall have to post some more of my parents one of these days.
http://journals.aol.co.uk/jeanno43/JeannettesJottings/
Lovely story Joan. I did a similar entry in October about my Dad....very moving to write and not always easy, but lovely to read.
Hello! Joan, what a lovely tribute to your Dad, I lost track of some 'writings' of my Dad, and deeply regret it...he died at the age of just 60yrs, it was 40yrs ago and he would have been 100 in 2005, had he lived, and I still miss him- he was very quiet and an absolute Gentleman, as you know my Mum is still in a Nursing home at 99 yrs.
Lovely pictures of you both. We visited Inverness, when staying near Nairn
Aileen...X
Lovely pictures of your Dad and you on the motore bike ~ what a pretty young lady you are ~ thanks for sharing your memories of him ~
and how lovely you have his diaries - Parents never fade from the memory and are always in our thoughts...Ally
Hi Joan, Thanks so much for sharing your memories of your dear Dad. I lost my Dad almost 22 yrs ago now but I still miss him terribly, especially when I need to talk to him, our conversations went on for hours. This was a really nice entry, thanks again. :o)
Sandra xxxx
Thank you for sharing the memories of your dad joan. Perhaps one day you could share some of his writing's with us?? That would be nice to read :-)
What lovely memories you have of your dad, he sounded like a wonderful father and companion to you. Jeannette.
Post a Comment