“Christmas 1984 or thereabouts... the last present to be unwrapped is for me. It’s HUGE. A parcel wrapped in festive paper and ribbons. I’m around 14, so this is a really big deal. I tear it open, only to discover another, slightly smaller wrapped parcel inside. OK, cute, I think. I open it up... to see another wrapped parcel, again slightly smaller. Still enjoyable, but what’s the deal?? I open it up... and yes, there’s another present inside. This goes on for a while, each gift getting smaller and smaller until all that’s left is a tiny square box. I open it up and there’s a walnut inside. A walnut. All that work... for a walnut. “So crack it, already,” says Dad in reply to my protestations, handing me the nutcrackers. The nut explodes into little pieces of shell, to reveal a neatly folded £50 note inside. Apparently, Dad had cracked about 57 walnuts the night before until he achieved a clean break that he could glue back together after tucking in the money. Luckily, Mum was making fresh orange salad with Cointreau and walnuts, and thankfully nobody noticed the slight excess of walnuts in the dish that year.”
- Emma
“The three of us were in Tesco’s one day and as usual, John was making dry comments every now and then. To counteract this, Ingrid walked up behind him and gave him a quick pinch on his bottom, at which instant he whirled around, proclaiming in a REALLY loud voice: “Madam! I don’t know WHO you are, but will you PLEASE stop pinching my bottom!” Suddenly, Ingrid and Emma became very interested in jars of pickled beetroot while smothering giggles as a little old lady who had started to walk down our aisle suddenly thought better of it and scurried away in the opposite direction. John just nonchalantly wandered up the aisle, without a care in the world, unaware of the giggling chaos he left in his wake.”
- Ingrid and Emma
“Actually, contrary to what most people think, being asked to write something about someone one has been married to for 38 years and known for 46 is not easy. Where does one start, does one pull a pink gauze over the whole experience like a Hallmark Valentine card dedicated “To My Darling Husband”... somehow I don’t think so - for a start I would begin to gag, John would raise an eyebrow and look over his glasses and Emma would collapse into giggles and we would all end up laughing like drains. Which I suppose is a good place to start. Our marriage, like most others has had its good times and its bad times, but we are still here, and what has been a great unifying factor has been laughter - John has always been able to make me laugh. We share the same sense of humour and a sense of the ridiculous. He has a remarkable sense of humour, the quickest wit around. He is also very laid back – except where do-it-yourself and anything electronic are concerned when both his sense of humour and calm totally desert him!!”
- Ingrid
“But above all else, I think that the main reason I love him is for his enormous generosity, generosity of spirit and willingness to put his hand in his very deep pockets when most people would find all sorts of reasons not to.”
- Ingrid
