Hi Jude. I don’t make a habit of picking up men in the park, but for your Dad, I made an exception. This was in San Francisco in about March or April 2012. I had just moved to San Francisco from Tokyo, but I am originally from the Wirral, which is about an hour north west of your Dad’s hometown Stoke. Anyway, I had recently arrived in San Francisco and was at the park with my daughter Keira and I could see you and your Dad bouncing around Clay Park. You were about 1.5 at the time and he was trying to keep you out of trouble, all the time with a big smile on his face. I heard his familiar accent and decided to go in for the kill, and asked him for a pint sometime. It turned out he had been eyeing me up as well and had been planning to make the first move himself. Anyway, we ended up going for a few pints in a local pub the next week and became firm friends thereafter.
You and your family ended up moving back to the UK about 6 months later, and so I ended up losing my first and for a long time only San Francisco friend. That being said, work meant that your Dad visited regularly and so we were still able to meet up every few months for a few drinks and a catch up. I remember one time he was planning to come over and he asked me if I wanted anything from the UK bringing out. It had been a while since I had tasted the delights on prawn cocktail Skips, and so asked him to bring across a few bags. He was kind enough to do so, although I had to go and pick them up from his hotel once he had left as he forgot to bring them along with him when we met up. Anyway, the reason I mention the Skips is that I hadn’t them eaten since your Dad bought them out about 3 years ago, but for some reason I decided to order some on Amazon about 6 weeks ago. To be honest, I’d completely forgot that I’d ordered them at all but then a couple of days after your Dad had passed a huge box of them arrived. Although I was devastated by the news of your Dad, I couldn’t help but raise a chuckle as it was if he had looked after his mate in San Francisco and dropped a few bags over to me on his way to Heaven.
Jude, your Dad was truly one of the best fellas I have ever met. A really generous, kind hearted, fun loving gent who will be missed by everyone who was every lucky enough to spend some time in his company.
Your Dad Chris was my hero, my mate.
Simon xx