IF ROY
If you as a child lived in Kipling Land, then the tales you could tell would be oh so grand.
If as a young boy you lost a father to war, then the void it would leave would be evermore.
If you had a mother who brought you up unpromoted, then to her you would always be devoted.
If you served your King for years - nearly three, then justly proud you could always be.
If you met a girl who would become your wife, and share your love for 73 years of life.
If you had children - just the two, who would always love and be devoted to you.
If you could help the country uphold the law, then after 30 years, you could proudly say - No more.
If 6 grandchildren should come, with whom you would have so much fun.
If after, 9 great-grandchildren then came, then you could claim,
that this was meant, to make your later life content.
Then your life’s job would be done,
and you can rest in peace old son.
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Today is the day we gather in family murmuration, with our ears soothed by the lark ascending,
The eldest cleaver touched many lives and absolutely no one is pretending,
As this beautiful life has exited its final journey our memory will remain,
Moving to fill with pride for his name... and of course the legacy of his golf game,
Your kindness filled each and every room, grace and poise was always your first choice and your smile uplifted anyone's mood.
We will live in pure affection of all the experience you have shone with your reflection, we hope to mirror your light, in these coming days as a calm inner strength and a reminder to always do what's right.
Thankyou Grandpops for setting the example of how a man can live with joy in a challenging world,
I hope that by whatever years to come I will find the same peace as the rest of my life unfurls.
You loved us all and that was always clear, so we can let go and feel you fly away with maybe a few shedded tear.
“You always made everyone feel like the most important person in the room. A great story teller, amazing with all the great-grandkids and you gave the best hugs. Thank you for being you. Forever the head of the family and forever missed and loved x”
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“Grandpops, you were a presence that filled a room with warmth and love. A hug that swallowed you up and gripped you tight. A tone of voice that made you smile and feel calm. I feel incredibly lucky to have had you as my Grandpops and thank you dearly for your kind hearted ways. Please have peace knowing that we will all follow our dreams and live our lives to the fullest as you would have wished. We hope that you are up there enjoying a well deserved rest and retelling fond and very vivid memories with your friends and loved ones. Until I see you again, I love you xx ”
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“We’ll miss the birthday poems, we’ll miss the big hugs, we’ll miss the sitting on your lap pulling funny faces, but we’ll never get bored of re-telling your epic stories and reliving all our loving moments. You’ll always have a place at the head of our table x”
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“Sheer pride. That’s what I feel. To be able to say that you were mine. Not just a grandad I happened to have, But a man I was lucky enough to meet. You taught us to stand tall and hug well. To work hard and adventure more. I’ll miss our talks so very much. But all that you said, and all that you were, I carry with me. On that journey to Darjeeling, on that trip to France. My Grandpops and me.”
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“He was, and remains, my hero! A prodigious sportsman, an artist, a poet and a creator of things both practical and magic – a true renaissance man who lived by his principles with a profound sense of duty. The gentlest of gentlemen. This would be legacy enough for anyone but he was also our Grandpops!
He made you feel safe, he made you feel loved and being near him always felt like home. My fondest memories are just sitting talking to him. You could discuss anything and everything and his joy and inquisitiveness (a useful attribute DCI Cleaver!) made you feel like what you were saying really mattered. And then he’d hit you with it! That killer story! The one you’d never heard. The one about the police, or India, or the Navy. The one that made the movie in your head play out in full technicoloured detail as you listened in awe! What a life; what a man!
As I write this I know he would have been able to say it better, probably in the form of a poem, and I wish I could do more justice to how I feel about him…..but I also know if he could read this he wouldn’t have minded and he would smile with a tear in his eye and that would have made everything ok. Grandpops, I miss you.”
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