To my Son,
From the day you were born I new you were going to be a challenge. You couldn’t be born at 2pm, 4am or 5pm, no you were born at midnight. First challenge, do we say you were born on 23rd or 24th, we went for the 24th. You also chose a day a day to be born when I was working abroad. I came back and we took you home to Yaxham Road. When we got there, I can remember holding you in my arms and saying to your mum “thank you for my little boy” I was so proud.
You were a curious boy and one day when looking around the house you found a pipe, you loved that pipe. Most kids had a dummy or bottle, not you, you had a pipe. You had that pipe in your push chair, laying in bed, in fact everywhere.
I can remember on the day before we move from Yaxham Road, sitting in the kitchen surrounded by packing boxes looking out the window towards the back of the garden. There was a shed at the back of the garden, suddenly the shed door opened, and a magnolia figure appeared, mum and me looked at each other and said “Simon”. You had emptied a full can of magnolia emulsion over the top of your head.
We moved to Tilney All Saints, near Kings Lynn, and we set about renovating our little bungalow. One day I was decorating the kitchen when there was a knock at the door, it was a neighbour “come quickly Simon has got out and is running across the fields. I rushed out, ran across to the fields only to find you totally naked and wearing just a policeman’s helmet, you were about 18 at the time, no seriously, you were about 2.
When you were about 5 we moved to Carbrook where you went to the local school. You made your mark at this school by making the headmasters life a complete torment. You were a bright lad but didn’t take kindly to rules and went about making your own. It didn’t help that the headmaster was a deeply religious man who disliked you, your sibling and your mum and dad. It was here that you decided to change your name, Dennis as I remember. We didn’t care but in time persuaded you to change it to “Sid” better than Dennis. One day the headmaster approached us saying “I have had a word with Simon and reprimanded him for calling himself Sid”. His name is Sid we said, “No his name is Simon that’s what he was christened” Sorry we replied but he has never been christened. At this point I’m sure a bolt of lighting came out of the sky.
Over the years in Carbrook, you played many tricks. You once put posters up saying there was going to be a bypass running through the village, the council were inundated with call. On another occasion you put posters up saying Elton John was playing in the village hall, people tried to buy tickets.
Despite all the adventures, tricks, and sleepless nights, eventually you grew up into a fine young man with a big heart and a burning determination to be the next Lord Sugar.
Strangely the one thing I can remember about your childhood is my magic kiss. When you fell over or cut you finger, I would kiss it better with my magic kiss. It may seem daft but when I was travelling to the hospital to see you, I knew you were in a coma, but I truly believed that when I got there, I could kiss everything better, why not? I was your dad and that’s what dads do. I arrived, held your hand, and kissed your forehead, I waited for your eyes to open but they didn’t, I’m truly sorry son but all my magic had gone, I let you down.
Son, we have had good times and we have had not so good times, but I have never stopped loving you mate and the pain in my heart of losing you will be there for ever more, I’m so proud to call you “My Son”. Goodbye for now son but we will meet again, and that is a promise I will keep xxxxxxx
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