Bill...

Jess' grandfather died today.

The last time we saw him he was sat up in his hospital bed, quoting Shakespeare and being stubborn with his doctor. He was a doctor himself for many years, (hell, he never stopped being a doctor from what I saw) and he was sure he knew those charts and numbers better than any of the staff in the hospital. He went past 90 a while back and I honestly would not have been surprised a jot if he'd hit a 100 before calling it a day. Even from that damn bed he was full of advice. "Pain is the great leveler," he said and as sorry as I am to see him go I'm glad he's above that shit now.

Tomorrow we'll be spending the day with Jess' grandmother and I guess we'll be back to getting on come Monday. If you have the number then send me or Jess a text message. I'm sure she'd appreciate it. It's been a rough time for her and again we're in the position where we'd normally be looking around for Carol.

Jess said to me earlier tonight that she can't believe that Bill's gone. His grandson Jackie, who turned ten earlier this month, can quote more Shakespeare than I could when I was studying it. Even in that simple way Bill will be around for a very long time.


This was one of his favourites (excuse any mistakes as this is from memory and mine is not a patch on Bill's)

All the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances and one man in his time plays many parts...