Family

I have always been close to all my family member. I love my parents dearly and lucky to still have them around. Both recently celebrated their 70th birthdays. I have one brother who i have not really been close too. He is married with two sons and has a marriage of convenience and i have not spoke to him; my nephews or his wife in over 2 years. A fall out over nothing but they have made it an issue so after trying to smooth things over with an email and also a personal letter afther their dog died they have refused to make contact so i think that speaks for itself. It does not really bother me but it makes my parents very unhappy and i would make up and bite my lip for their sakes but they don't want that so life goes on.

My dad has 3 sisters all very close aunts who i visited when young with my dad every Sunday and when one of them died age 76 it left us all devastated. My other two aunts are still with us age 87 and 86 and althought one is battling an illness the other is fit albeit a little confused at times. My dad was the youngest of four and the only son. Apparently his father went out and got very drunk when he found out he had a son.

This is really all the family i had. I did have a cousin of my grandfather who i always called aunty and her husband uncle even thought we were not really related. her Brother lived with her all their married life as he was slightly down syndrome and also kept from school in the 1930's 40's as he was different so could never read or write. He was a lovely character who had an incredible memory. I loved him so much. When my aunt (his sister) suddenly died of a massive heart attack in her 60's my two uncles were left alone. They both eventually ended up in a care home as were unable to look after themselves and they both died some years ago. My uncle left all his money to me and my brother. It was not a lot as the government would not care for him freely as he had money in the bank so he was charged a huge amount per week from his own estate. When he died there was about £18000.00 left and that included the sale of his house so we got about £8700.00 each after fees and expenses. I put my share towards a new car as my uncle used to stick "L" plates on his car and allow me to drive when i was learning so i thought that was a nice gesture to buy the car.

No one will ever replace parents and i try and spoil mine as much as i can. I think this is a way to deal with life after they are no longer with us. I did my best and they saw a lot of the world and had great holidays. I know people who have not strayed more than a couple of hundred miles from theie homes which i find incredible. My parents have been all over the world and have taken many cruises and have many happy memories.

Posted at the top are my parents and also my 3 aunts; in order Bell-Nancy-Eva...Aunty Eva in black is the one we lost 2 years ago and is sadly missed by us all. She managed on so little and survived so well. A great character and she was surrounded by great family.