Last Minute Trip To England
I'm off to England next weekend to say goodbye to one of my uncles.
Uncle John is the older of my mothers two older brothers. He was diagnosed with esophogeal cancer late last year. This is his second cancer, having lost an eye to a melanoma two years ago. He's still with us, but he doesn't have terribly long left. He and his wife are taking a weekend vacation to a local hotel and have invited his extended family to come as well, specifically for dinner on Friday night. His immediate family are his wife Jenny (my Aunt) and his daughter Sally (my cousin). Sally has two sons who are probably about 12 and 14 now. She split from their father years ago and has a new SO. I don't know if she married either or both of them.
I'm looking forward to meeting my cousins sons. I met their father before they were born, and he made me look a bit on the short side. It'll be good to let those boys know that there are still a few men in their mothers family, and that they're not alone in being on the tall side. On the other hand, their mother is five foot nothing and weighed all of about 95lbs last I saw her. For all I know they take after her.
My mother is flying over as well, we're coordinating to be there at the same time, coming from two different cities. Other family attending will be my Uncle Paul (my mothers other brother), his son Justin (my cousin) and Justin's girlfriend Justine.
Uncle John was born in Ranchi, India in 1940. The first child of my grandparents who were missionaries at the time. My grandmother feared he would be discriminated against if he spoke English with an Indian accent, John spoke only the local Hindi dialect until he was 4 or 5. His parents moved to the coast of Devonshire at around that time. He made good marks in school and was eligible for University but refused it. At 18 he went to work on a factory floor.
The factory was Rolls-Royce in Derby, where he started working on the car assembly line. He earned an engineering degree in the evenings, and with a group of co-workers restored an older Rolls-Royce. Once completed the group could afford (just) to drive it to work once a week. He met and married Jenny while working there, together they had a daughter, Sally. Jenny had a career in nursing. At some point John moved from car assembly to engine design and over to the aircraft engine portion of Rolls-Royce. When the company was split up and sold, John remained with the aircraft engine division. Notable Rolls-Royce aircraft engines include the Concorde and the Harrier.
My real impression of Uncle John comes from the summer of 1985. At 15 I spent four weeks bouncing between English relatives. At that time John was driving a car with rusted out floorboards (he always drove beater cars, drove his brother Paul nuts), brewing dandelion wine at home, and doing yoga and meditation.
Uncle John is the older of my mothers two older brothers. He was diagnosed with esophogeal cancer late last year. This is his second cancer, having lost an eye to a melanoma two years ago. He's still with us, but he doesn't have terribly long left. He and his wife are taking a weekend vacation to a local hotel and have invited his extended family to come as well, specifically for dinner on Friday night. His immediate family are his wife Jenny (my Aunt) and his daughter Sally (my cousin). Sally has two sons who are probably about 12 and 14 now. She split from their father years ago and has a new SO. I don't know if she married either or both of them.
I'm looking forward to meeting my cousins sons. I met their father before they were born, and he made me look a bit on the short side. It'll be good to let those boys know that there are still a few men in their mothers family, and that they're not alone in being on the tall side. On the other hand, their mother is five foot nothing and weighed all of about 95lbs last I saw her. For all I know they take after her.
My mother is flying over as well, we're coordinating to be there at the same time, coming from two different cities. Other family attending will be my Uncle Paul (my mothers other brother), his son Justin (my cousin) and Justin's girlfriend Justine.
Uncle John was born in Ranchi, India in 1940. The first child of my grandparents who were missionaries at the time. My grandmother feared he would be discriminated against if he spoke English with an Indian accent, John spoke only the local Hindi dialect until he was 4 or 5. His parents moved to the coast of Devonshire at around that time. He made good marks in school and was eligible for University but refused it. At 18 he went to work on a factory floor.
The factory was Rolls-Royce in Derby, where he started working on the car assembly line. He earned an engineering degree in the evenings, and with a group of co-workers restored an older Rolls-Royce. Once completed the group could afford (just) to drive it to work once a week. He met and married Jenny while working there, together they had a daughter, Sally. Jenny had a career in nursing. At some point John moved from car assembly to engine design and over to the aircraft engine portion of Rolls-Royce. When the company was split up and sold, John remained with the aircraft engine division. Notable Rolls-Royce aircraft engines include the Concorde and the Harrier.
My real impression of Uncle John comes from the summer of 1985. At 15 I spent four weeks bouncing between English relatives. At that time John was driving a car with rusted out floorboards (he always drove beater cars, drove his brother Paul nuts), brewing dandelion wine at home, and doing yoga and meditation.