"Witty, unsentimental and not one to say no to another brandy. At family parties, he's the one gossiping about the latest scandal to catch up with a local MP, or regaling us with tales of the outrageous philandering of various Sheffield Wednesday players over the past 40 years. He could make anything a jacket potato, a broken relationship funny, somehow."
"The morning rolled on but the anecdotes weren't flowing as they usually were. He was convinced he was OK but he didn't look it. He tried to make it upstairs for a nap but couldn't; he tried, gingerly, to eat Christmas lunch, and failed. So, before I'd so much as placed a party hat on my head, my mum and I decided to take him to A&E."
A larger-than-life family friend brought wit, unsentimentality and a fondness for brandy to every gathering. He gossiped and regaled the family with outrageous tales of local scandals and footballers' philandering. One Christmas about ten years ago he fell down the stairs with whisky and a suitcase, breaking his ribs and being advised not to fly. He returned for Christmas looking increasingly unwell, unable to nap or eat. His relatives took him to A&E when he became barely responsive. Hospital wards smelled of food and wind. Staff and patients attempted festive gaiety with tinsel on drip stands and bowls of Christmas pudding, while nurses bustled about calling visitors "duck".
Read at www.theguardian.com
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