First Class

I was at a 'celebration of life' yesterday - one of these occasions when a minute's applause would be more appropriate than silence.

John Beirne lived life to the full, a charming, witty man, a great raconteur, but also caring and compassionate. In fact all the qualities of a first class tennis coach - which he was.

My attendance there relied on Flybe doing Edinburgh to Southampton in an hour, foot hard down, followed by a hair-raising taxi ride on the M27. Even then I was 7 minutes late for 'kick off' and did a Hugh Grant / 4 Weddings entry into Romsey Abbey, which by the way has the creakiest back door on the planet.

But it was certainly worth it - and to share the occasion with special friends.

I am off to see family in Connecticut tomorrow. If anyone fancies breaking into my home in my absence, I have a very big son living there, plus a dog who chews ankles for supper.

Now I don't want to reveal any personal things here, but there are 5++ daily text messages I'm going to miss - may well suffer serious withdrawl symptoms!!

PS One of John's sayings at a social gathering was "I'm seriously at risk of enjoying myself". What a great advert for life!