We have lost John

 When I wrote about  our Zero Degrees team get together in the third weekend of June I mentioned that it was likely that if we didn't get together again soon, we would lose someone before another catch up.

Well, it has happened - John, who I noted in that post was pretty poorly and incapacitated then with pulmonary fibrosis, leukemia and oedema, died on July 22 - a month after we had all got together. He was the 4th one of us to get Covid after the weekend, in spite of Adair's efforts to keep him isolated from it. And with his co-morbidities, it was the final straw.

So David and I and Jim and Judy went up to be there to support Adair and the three lovely daughters (Lynaire, Levonne and Danielle) whom we have known since they were toddlers. John hadn't wanted a funeral, so we had a wake instead.

In John terms, it was very quiet - if he'd been there in person the rock music would have been belting out, there'd be dancing and lots of alcohol consumed.  

However a number of people had come from work and a lot of us were old - it seems the days of raucous parties are over, more is the pity!

But we did sit around and talk about him and our times together. 

John was a stalwart for me when I headed to London to work three months before David finished up his job at Learning Media. John and I spent most Saturdays together, at first constructing Argos flatpack furniture for my apartment: a bookcase, a table and chairs, a bedside cabinet and a TV stand, then followed by a late lunch and wine at La Perla in Maiden Lane, Covent Garden. Lunch was always vegetarian fajitas, the wine was always a chilean sauv blanc - usually one bottle between us but occasionally two. That was always a mistake, especially the late afternoon when I came out of the Leicester Square tube station by the wrong exit, and headed down Oxford St and on to Regent St instead of the other way which would have got me closer to the route on foot back to Pimlico ... When I realised my error, I decided a black cab was the best solution! Home I went giggling about being drunk and loose and alone in London... 

Note: the reason John was available on Saturdays was because Adair worked nights caring for elderly rich people, and on Saturdays she needed to sleep. J&A lived in a house in Golders Green that was full of bedsits rented out to a myriad of people, with one kitchen and two bathrooms. So John had to be out during the day. A win win win obviously!

It is even more important that we increase our get-togethers - the number of them with a quorum could be severely curtailed, so any opportunity needs to be seized upon!

Big hugs, John.