Still Looking Up After All These Years

David was 2 years and 4 months old when I was produced as the kid brother who still looks up to him after all these years. My very first memory, not just of him but of my life, is his unbounded generosity, his willingness to share everything he had with his little brother, I was just 3 years old when he brought me some presents home from school...measles, mumps and whooping cough which he insisted on sharing because he thought it was an experience not to be missed, this was the year before the N.H.S. and the doctor's fees were not welcome for Taid and Gu in the austere post-war years.

As we grew I like to think we remained close, we had the same friends, the family was close-knit and we generally had similar interests, similar that is until we moved to Penarth and separate schools. We both enjoyed sport but that was probably the only shared interest.

Your father astounded me (and Taid & Gu I think) when he built a transistor radio at home, it worked really well for about 2 years when someone (probably me) spilled coffee over it. I was interested in the arts, your dad was fascinated by the sciences, how things worked and how they could be improved upon, his destiny in life was already formed, I managed to drift contentedly through life, your dad was, and I think still is striving to solve problems most of us don't even know exist.

When we were junior school age and sports teams were decided with pick in turn between captains, your father was usually one of the captains (he was tall for his age) and I remember thinking that if he didn't pick me I'd kill him when we got home, fortunately he usually picked me (not always first choice) but have since realised that he was twice my size and the genocide would have been reversed!

I well remember your mum and dad's wedding day, I was in the navy stationed in northern Scotland and caught a train down to Cardiff to be met at the station by your dad in his 1937 Austin 10, what a car, a real bone-shaker that would probably be worth a lot of money today. When I was sent overseas he bought my Austin Mini, a smoother ride but not the character of the 10.

I'll probably remember other childhood events in time, he was always kind to me and included me in his circle of friends, we would walk from our house in Penarth to the promenade and have coffee in Rabbiotti's, I remember the group talking about Harold McMillan (P.M. at the time) sending over bombers to Egypt to protect Britain's interests at Suez, strange topic of conversation for young teenagers...