“Drink your wine. Laugh from your gut. Burden your moments with thankfulness. Be as empty as you can be when that clock winds down. Spend your life. And if time is a river, may you leave a wake.”

N.D. Wilson

My grandad, Terry, passed away yesterday. I thought I’d share 1 memory for each decade of his life. I know this isn’t a normal thing to have on a photography blog, but it’s important to me and I’d like to share.

1. Grandad had lots of siblings. His oldest brother died when he was 1. My grandpa was named after him- Terence. Other than that, he there was Victor, Norman, John, Joyce, Terry, Pat, Ethel, Ken, Morris, Arthur, Roy.
2. When he was a kid, they had to move to Wales because it was too dangerous in London. They helped on the farms. Because there were so many English kids in wales, they split the school day in half. The English kids would go in the morning and the Welsh kids would go in the afternoon. But everything was taught in Welsh. He didn’t learn to read until he went off to war. When he moved in with us when I was 11, he’d read his Bible and a devotional every day. He became a stronger reader over the years because of this and was able to start reading novels.
3. He had a greyhound named Grand Muff. The greyhound was a racing dog. He was a star. After winning a race one day, one of the ladies in heals was walking him off the track and stepped on his foot breaking his leg. That was the end of Grand Muff.
4. Grandad joined the war. He was trained to jump out of planes. I don’t think he ever entered combat. I do know he learned to read and write better during this time and his younger brother Arthur died on his bike while he was away. He also was a professional wrestler for a time. They didn’t wear any sort of protection on their ears, so his ears were real flat. He could fold one of them in half and make it look like he didn’t have an ear at all which he loved to do to shock people.
5. Grandad met Georgina (Gina) one night at a pub. She was on a date with a guy in the band. Well my grandpa woo-ed her with his amazing dancing. My grandad was an amazing dancer. He blew everyone away at our wedding. The last time I saw Grandad he told me about the first time Gina told him she loved him. He said “I was so STUPID. She said she loved me and I said ‘well I don’t love you.'” Then he said they got married a couple weeks later. 
6. When he moved in with us when I was a kid, he’d take us to the swimming pool all the time and to Karate. He played board games with us in the evening after dinner. He and I were buddies. We played Tangos every chance. When I was away at college, he’d play by himself for hours on end, and when I would come back to visit, I could still beat him. 🙂 He loved to garden. He had a wonderful apple tree in the middle of his garden in England. He was really disappointed with the weather in Tallahassee for gardening but he found new things to grow. If they could grow in Tallahassee, he made them grow.
7. He worked as a bagger at Publix. When he had surgery and couldn’t bag, they let him stay on as a greeter. We couldn’t go in public anywhere with him without people recognizing him and running up to give him a hug. Every Christmas, he’d come home with loads of cards and gifts from adoring customers. He was selected from his store to go to the President’s breakfast. He got a new bow tie for the occasion and looked real sharp. He absolutely loved his job and also loved a good colorful outfit.I got him this yellow tie for fathers day to wear to the wedding. He really dressed it up well.
8. Grandad loved everyone and everything. In our last visit to him, he was continually content and grateful for everything. He loved having his hair brushed. He was excited about his smoothies and enjoyed watching Downton Abbey. He loved meeting Mima. Said he was “pleased as punch.” (He is also the first grandparent to like her name- probably because he’s the only grandparent who isn’t American) He lit up when she was in the room and would ask where she went when she wasn’t.
9. I’ve never known someone so cheerful. He loved the small things in life. He had a good life. Grandad loved God, his wife, his son, his grandkids and Jemima. Everyone who met him loved him.