This train of thought started when mum asked whether I wanted anything from Granddad's bits and pieces to remember him by, my memory isn't the best in the world by a long shot but after a few minutes some ancient reminiscences of watching him shave came to mind, and the more I thought about it the more I realised that growing up I was keen to watch that man do anything!

I recall concentrating hard on granddads face as he put on his shaving cream and as weird as it sounds when I write it I can clearly remember the sound the lathered up brush on his face sounded. What a strange thing to remember instead of where my keys are.
There are a lot of things I'm grateful for from granddad (and of course grandma) in my early years in excess to the bountiful patience and love that were obviously my right as a grandchild! I wanted to share some memories I have (some of which are second hand but are from reliable sources) from growing up with granddad (and of course grandma):

-      When I was 15 / 16 during a family trip to Julie’s flat in Malaga I decided that I would write a guide of useful tips and tricks that everyone should know, being the slightly eccentric kid that I was (am) this was of course written in a notebook with shimmering green circles that followed the light as the cover instead of something more fitting for the subject. Several of Granddad’s exploits featured in this book (and in all likelihood inspired it), one subject being what to do if you got yourself locked out of your house, the first entry was a story grandma told me which I was apparently there for but don’t recall where on discovering that they were locked out and that the key was in the lock on the other side of the door granddad went to the garage, filed down the point of a nail, applied a small dab of super glue to the now flat end and very carefully inserted it into the keyhole so the glue stuck to the front of the key, he then turned the nail with some pliers turning the key and opening the door. After that he could just pull the key out (nail with it) and file off the nail. Problem solved and utter genius! Granddad then one upped himself during the trip itself after one of Julie’s neighbours shut herself out of her flat which, after some pondering, granddad identified as being due to the outer handle on the door becoming disconnected from the rod that turned the tumbler, he had a plan of getting back into the flat by removing the outer handle but after we discovered the window was on the latch he posted me through and we opened it from the front, he then fixed the door for her to stop it happening again, absolutely in his element!

-      Granddad was very supportive when 3 - 4 year old he decided that I wanted to help with building the sandpit for Mike and I, very tactfully he had already decided to not let me near any of the cement or bigger tools but he did give me the very important job of hammering as many nails as possible into a spare bit of wood he had handy which was hugely engrossing and ultimately harmless. Considering I have more memories of ‘working with granddad’ and that bit of wood than I do of the sandpit (which is terribly bad form) you can see how interesting he was growing up!

-      When I was about 5 or 6 granddad took me to a carnival in town and one of the attractions I was keen to prove myself on was the ghost train (as long as he went on with me!), so I got on and most of the scares were fine, nothing too freaky, granddad even reached forward and stroked me on the head at some point which I took as a sign of affection. When we got to the end of the ride I turned around to see if he enjoyed it only to find that he wasn’t there, the ride had gone while he was buying the tickets and I had just assumed he was behind me the whole time! I have no idea to this day whether it was a ride assistant or a machine that stroked my head but knowing it wasn’t him turned me white as a sheet, I remember clinging to his hand for dear life for the rest of the day, I think he was mostly just baffled!

Overall my favourite thing about growing up with granddad Derek was how interesting he managed to make everything he was doing, not with embellishments but just by giving off the aura of a man who was genuinely enjoying what he was doing. It was infectious! Lots of love granddad, thank you so, so much for all the love and lessons 😊