Saying Goodbye to Tad.
Jan. 27th, 2017 11:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dizzojayI went to a funeral earlier this week to say goodbye to someone I've known since I was about fifteen.
When I was living at home, back in 1983, a delightfully eccentric couple called Tad and Eve moved into the house next-door-but-one to us. Tad was a little barrelesque ruddy man with a bald head, and Eve had a long plait right down to the small of her back. They had a cat called Dracula and a campervan called Myrtle.
Over the years, Tad and Eve became good friends to my Mum and Dad, being of a similar generation to them, and to me. They were lovely, free-spirited, bohemian people, extremely well-read and interesting people, and we had plenty of laughs - they had the naughtiest sense of humour.
Three years ago, Tad was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease and in the first week in January this year, he passed away after a long and brave fight against this horrible disease. It was so very Tad that at his funeral the readings weren't from the Bible, but from the Icelandic Sagas.
I look back on Tad's memory with great fondness, and I always remember the day I asked him why people called him 'Tad', because I happened to know his name was Sidney.
He told me; 'I was the youngest of six, and when I was a kid, I was the smallest and ugliest in the family, so all my brothers and sisters called me 'Tadpole' and the name just stuck!.
How can you not love a man like that??
Rest in peace Tad.
When I was living at home, back in 1983, a delightfully eccentric couple called Tad and Eve moved into the house next-door-but-one to us. Tad was a little barrelesque ruddy man with a bald head, and Eve had a long plait right down to the small of her back. They had a cat called Dracula and a campervan called Myrtle.
Over the years, Tad and Eve became good friends to my Mum and Dad, being of a similar generation to them, and to me. They were lovely, free-spirited, bohemian people, extremely well-read and interesting people, and we had plenty of laughs - they had the naughtiest sense of humour.
Three years ago, Tad was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease and in the first week in January this year, he passed away after a long and brave fight against this horrible disease. It was so very Tad that at his funeral the readings weren't from the Bible, but from the Icelandic Sagas.
I look back on Tad's memory with great fondness, and I always remember the day I asked him why people called him 'Tad', because I happened to know his name was Sidney.
He told me; 'I was the youngest of six, and when I was a kid, I was the smallest and ugliest in the family, so all my brothers and sisters called me 'Tadpole' and the name just stuck!.
How can you not love a man like that??
Rest in peace Tad.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2017-01-27 11:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-27 11:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-28 02:19 am (UTC)I'm so sorry for your loss, my dear. Good memories remain and this is an encouraging thought, isn't it? *hugs you gently*
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Date: 2017-01-28 09:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-29 02:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-29 05:07 pm (UTC)But man, Tad sounds like the kind of guy I'd love to spend time with.
This was a lovely tribute, dear. ♥
no subject
Date: 2017-01-30 10:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-30 10:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-30 10:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-30 10:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-30 10:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-30 10:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-02-04 12:58 am (UTC)On a brighter note, I love the story of how he got his name!
*hugs*