I know...where have we been? Where was June's dinner? Basically it didn't happen. I never thought that I would miss one of our Intellectual Dinners but last month it became impossible when my Dad passed away. He had been ill for a few months but it was still a bit of a shock when in the middle of the night we received a phone call to tell us that it was time. We sat with him for an hour and a half and at 5:30am he decided he'd had enough, he smiled and then took his final breath. Why am I telling you this? Because I want people to know who my Dad was, he was a kind, caring man who liked everything to be right. He valued his friends greatly and he worked hard his entire life to take care of his family. Dad was a strong man who showed very little emotion, he rarely hugged me but that was just who he was. Except earlier this year when I became ill, he was the person I wanted the most and when he came to get me, for the first time I can remember he hugged me and told me everything was going to be alright. I felt safe when Dad was around and now he's gone I feel quite lost without him.But it's not doom and gloom. We celebrated Dad's life on Tuesday with a dinner dedicated to him. My Dad was a Yorkshire man and so we feasted on bread and dripping, Yorkshire pudding with onion gravy and HP sauce, pork pie, chicken drumsticks and egg custard and trifle. All of his favourite foods. We listened to the Grimethorpe Colliery Band and The Shadows, it was an event that I am sure he would have loved. People laughed and swapped funny stories about my Dad and my two and half year old nephew laddered my tights, booed and told the golfers putting outside the venue that they were rubbish and then managed to rake in ten pounds by being cute around the other guests. Dad would have been proud of his Grandson! That night we ate fish and chips and felt content that my Dad had had the best send off that he could possibly have.
Now it's time to get back to normal so last night I met up with the girls for the first time in a while and it was so good to be back with the Intellectual Dinner Club. Last night we sat and discussed what we are going to do next whilst we feasted on cheese, crackers, cake and Cava. This may explain why I am feeling slightly ill this morning. I'm so excited to be back and to get the club going again, our next dinner will be in two weeks so watch this space! I hope that you will continue to follow us for the second part of the year...let's hope it's so much better than the first part!Catherine x
