John
Morris – OldGit's Finale
The light that burned so brightly in the 'Oldgits' blogger
eyes was very sadly extinguished on November 26th 2016. John Morris, 79 had
passed away with his family around him.
The mystery illness mentioned in the last few published blogs
turned out to be a very rare aggressive leukaemia.
We had half expected to be left instructions with
something witty and similar to Spike Milligan’s epitaph ‘I told you I was ill’
and a username & password encouraging Oldgit's continuance.
There were neither.
A few requests/comments were delivered from a hospital bed
very shortly after the oncologist had delivered the killer news….
‘I’ve had a great life and loved every moment I have spent
with all of my family & friends’
‘I don’t want a funeral where all those people that didn’t
really like me turn and say nice things about me… just have a party for those
you know I would want to finish off the wine cellar!’
No funeral ? - Those of you that have followed the blog or read some of his
kindle books will be familiar that religion didn’t figure in his life!!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/John-Morris/e/B019CU7U42/ref=la_B019CU7U42_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1481300156&sr=1-1
If
only that bloody illness had waited 2-3 months more we would all have seen a
whole heap of blogs about Trump ( I say what I like… and like what I say)/
Teresa Maybe brexit/ Boris (er…perhaps free movement is a jolly good idea after
all) / and the chosen one Mourinho choses not to pay UK tax allegedly!
Over
7 weeks of illness we never heard a complaint… and the sharp humour remained…
On
being admitted to an acute assessment unit, he enquired from the oncologist
that looked younger than his grand children ‘How long have you been doing
this?’ The lovely Sally smiled, but understood the question really meant ‘do
you know what you are doing?’ , and quickly got a reply ‘I have been a doctor
for 6 years, and yes I do still need my driving license to buy a bottle of
wine!’ And ‘how much do you drink Mr Morris?’ got the reply YES … humour, quick
witted, and a liking to wine.. they were gonna get on just fine…
Do
you feel any pain? Brought the response ‘no are you gonna give me some?’ and as
the biopsy & bone marrow analysis unfolded and diagnosis moved from
lymphoma to leukaemia he requested if further analysis might bring the news
that it was really just a bad cough!
There
might have been a distant chance with a GSK drug but it was not available on
the NHS , ‘what about for shareholders?’ he asked…
On
Tuesday 22nd Sally delivered the news that whilst a chemo blast was
still an option he was in an awful state and whilst it might prolong life a
short amount, it would be unlikely to come with any quality of life…
‘I
think we are done here – get me home please’ came the response to which Sally
replied it might take 2 days to arrange. A tiny expletive left Sally very clear
he was going home that day and she didn't let him down. As she asked him to think very carefully about
his decision to not have chemo she expressed that it would probably be a matter
of only 2 weeks left. Sally smiled as she listened to a discussion around
whether it would be possible to finish the Chateau Musar collection in that
time! Sadly it wasn’t.
In
the 2 weeks that have passed since the dreaded day we have laughed a lot… and
he would have wanted us to…
Should
we ask the undertakers for a cash discount, he would!
Did
we want anything put in the coffin? His toolbox cos his tools never really
worked very well in his hands!
We
have cried plenty as well – especially when reading what people genuinely
thought about him, as it both amplifies the loss and our pride. Its when you
reflect that there is a realisation that this was a man that had little
interest in material things, was never motivated by money, was incredibly
funny, and his real interest in life was people.
We
come in with nothing, and we leave with nothing. We leave memories for those
left behind and if we are able to leave those same quality memories that John has left, we will have be extremely lucky to have inherited those exceptional qualities….
Dad,
you did us all proud… thank you xxxx
