Well, John Shea, this is a fine mess you’ve got us into, isn’t it? Wandering off again. We can only think you had a premonition, something like Arsenal going down this season, or maybe you’ve found a bar by a pool in the sun, where they serve ice–cold lager at a penny a pint. You certainly believed that life should be lived in style, with bells on. And you did it with unstinting, warm generosity (who could forget your 40th birthday bash?) an irrepressible sense of humour and loads of love. You always were your own person and wandering off was a kind of second nature to you. After all, don’t we all get lost on this twisting path of life sometimes? As the poet said,
‘Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.’
Every one of us has a journey to make and we can only make it in our own way, tracing our own pathway. Only we three saw the whole road you trod and we know what we know and no one can take that away from us. Those memories will stay with us for always.
You leave us with many treasures, most of all our beautiful, serene Alice and the amazing mayhem that is Ady; they’ll be nurtured and cared for by their brilliant Mum, Cerys. From the beginning Cerys has been a much-loved and cherished member of our family.
There’s a lot more we could say but it’s probably best to let you get back to that pool in the sun.
Alice once told me that you made the best omelettes in the world. The closest we can get to that is a bit of Hamlet. So, you take care mate, until we meet again.
‘Good night, sweet Prince,
And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.’
Comments