A
few weeks after my brother Fred died, I wrote this letter to his wife,
my sister-in-law, Joyce. It follows on from my previous post 'My
brother, Fred'.
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Dear JoyceNow that a little time has passed since Fred’s death and things will gradually be returning to something like normal for you, here are a few things I would liked to have said to you in person that time and distance didn’t allow.
Fred was always a kind and loving brother, helping me understand and come to grips with various things that happened to us in good times and those not so good through circumstances beyond our control. With sadness and concern he had to leave us in 1942 enlisting in the Royal Navy. Then I did my best to write my letters to him and through my schoolboy efforts I tried hard to express my thoughts to him through those times.
He had a generous heart and always surprised us when he came home on leave carrying kit bags loaded with tinned foods and other things from Canada, something that cheered us during rationing wartime England.
As my brother, we had so little time together, so on my last visit to UK in 2001 he took the opportunity to join me in visiting Southport in search of information about the plans our mother drew for the house built by Dad. We got so close but some obstacle or other prevented us from obtaining copies for our family history. Still, we were together when [your son] Brian drove us around looking at the home Dad built for us in Cottam, and I’m thankful that the nostalgia of that time with Fred by my side is still with me.
That my big brother has had a very happy and contented life with you Joyce as his wife and partner, along with Brian and his family, means so much to me and my family, not forgetting our big sister, Hilda in Preston. I hope these few words will ease things for you as the days come and go for you Joyce.
As I said before, I will miss him more than I can say.
Much love then, from Dennis
(first published www.denniscrompton.wordpress.com 2013)
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