So, a bit of a sad one, as Mum's one brother – my Uncle Jan – died last week. He'd done so well, hanging on in there so many years and was a fair old 86 when it all finally came to a finish.
I had a good conversation with him a week ago so am bloody glad I decided to bypass the usal Scott family reticence in saying anything emotional to each other, and had told him what he'd meant to me as an uncle, so a big relief that I didn't miss the moment and he had a chance to know how I felt about him.
Bless, a cool old boy, and the only man I've ever known whose real name was Gerlof – what a corker, and yet another example of a Scott/Bruch family member whose not known by their given name. A chap with a good sense of humour and many years of memories – mostly of him coming home to our old house in Lord Chancellor Walk, having been out walking for 12 hours flat with only an orange and a bit of dark bread to sustain him, and always inevitably being covered in mud where he'd have slipped over on leaves or any other bit of tricksy nature. Co-ordination was never a forte and he preferred a good thick book on Lenin or Churchill to most other activities. Here's to Jan (not Yon you wonderful illiterate numpties who kindly sent me sorry-to-hear messages, though the mis-spelling did make me laugh…).
So, had to pop Mum onto a plane to Amsterdam on her own for the first time as I can't go out till Tuesday. Now I know how parents feel when they dispatch their not-quite-ready offspring on their travels – slightly weird when it's your oldie that might have difficulty getting around, but finally got the 'POB' message from Cathy when she'd found Mum at the other end, so all's well that ends well.
And I'll be out there from Tues to Thurs as the funeral is on Thursday. All a bit rushed as the Dutch have some loopy thing about seeing people off within 13 days of death, and then some even whackier thing about having to refill his room within a short space of time, even if you want to pay for it for a bit longer. And they don't embalm people for some reason – really? Freaks. And then there's something about selling the actual flooring of Jan's room to the next people…whaaaaaat?…. Makes people who take the lightbulbs and doorbell cover when they move house seem normal.
Anyway, here he is – one of the nice photos from the last few times we were able to take him out for the day – cheers Jan, we will really miss you. And a lovely one of him with his old lady friend – Gerri (pronounced 'Hairy', you've got to love the Dutch language), who died a few years back, but as you can see, there was sparkle in the old boy yet…