In December, our family lost our dear Grandad. Grandad was 89 years old and lived a splendid life. We were delighted to have him at our wedding last summer where he met his great grandson. The guest of honor knew Jenn and I as a couple longer than anyone. When we lived in London we would take the friday train from Waterloo to Fratton Park station where we would spend the weekend drinking tea, gin and tonic, red wine, and watching multiple games of soccer on TV.
Grandad loved people, conversation, and hosting visitors at 135 Devonshire avenue, a house that he lived in for almost 60 years. He served in Her Majesty's Royal Air Force in World War 2, ran a business selling iron next to the dockyards of Portsmouth, and was a founding member of the Irish Club in Portsmouth- serving as their president in the late 80's.
I visited grandad on the way too and from many of my adventures and I always tried to send him a postcard. Amazingly, when going through his house, I found that he had kept every single one.
Grandad's memorial service on January 12th was attended by his friends and family. He had many friends who were not just casual acquaintances, but true friends who knew him well. He will be missed sorely by everyone. His memorial was followed by lunch and drinks at the Irish club where Jenn and I met many of my relatives that I have never met before. The afternoon was a celebration of his life that was spent in exactly the way he would have liked it.... at the Irish Club, with a pint of Guinness in our hands.
Going through his house and his belongings was like walking through time, limb by limb gazing at our family tree. Grandad's yellowish photos were kept from holidays in Cornwall on the beach. Old clippings of Treadgold's Iron Shop were kept in aluminum tins. Artifacts from soldiers of foreign wars from Africa and beyond were sitting on top of his piano in the sitting room. The picture above the mantelpiece of Captain Treadgold was taken home by my brother, and will soon sit above his mantel piece in Alexandria Virginia. Captain Treadgold fought in the British Army in the late 1800's in Africa and the West Indies. You can't help but wonder what his life was like.
The upside of travelling to the UK was time spent with our cousins who live in Spain and Wales. And of course time spent with Winston!
Here are some pictures of Grandad from over the years and some pictures from our time in Portsmouth.
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| Me in front of Treadgolds |
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| Four generations |
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| Winston driving the double decker at the pier |
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| Grumpy and Winston at the pub |
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| On the seafront at Portsmouth |
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