Patrick Cotterill RIP

Today I had the sombre duty of attending the funeral of a well loved family member. My 'uncle Pat'. He was the most friendly and welcoming man I think I ever knew. Always seemingly full of boundless energy and mischief. His wife Maggie always scared the hell out of me as a kid, as she is a tough character, but she had to be as the kids in their youth certainly kept them on their toes!, and in the end, as if often the case, they all turned out wonderfully. I saw Pat a few weeks ago in Hospital, and we talked of him getting out and celebrating Christmas, and a few weeks later I found myself reading at his service. So as times before, I find myself surrounded by long lost and familiar friends and relatives, celebrating the life of this great man, as only the Irish can do. At the age of 80 my Mother found this hard going, shivering with the combination of grief and cold, and failing eyesight, and I reflected that in the future, when she is no longer with me, perhaps all of this, the familial gatherings, the sense of family, the Irish side of my life; will all be gone. The end of an Era?.