We collected my wife's 90 year old Uncle Brian from Nottingham and took him down to Devon for a wedding last September. He managed the journey there and back and four nights in hotels really well. On the day of the wedding, I had to drag myself out of my hotel bed to answer the door, and it was Brian wanting to go to breakfast .... half an hour early and already fully dressed in his finest suit and tie.
After the wedding, there was a huge party all afternoon, with a barbecue, skittles, a wedding singer and a disco. Due to the risk of him falling over, I treated him a bit like Private Ryan (never more than two yards from me, and that's not negotiable) for the whole afternoon. I caught him a couple of times when he was a bit wobbly, so it was the right thing to do .... but he threw himself into it 100%. He played skittles, made lots of friends, sang along to 80s and 90s pop songs, sank at least 6 pints of beer and a glass of bubbly and had the entire party chanting his name as he hit the dance floor with two young ladies. Never underestimate an old guy.
We have since had all sorts of trouble with his county council and his health service during a period of illness, and it is quite tragic how paltry the services are for the elderly in his area. Fortunately, he seems to have fully recovered and is now getting out and about as before and is a regular at his local pub once more. He is actually my wife's uncle, but I just think of him as my own "Uncle Brian". In this shot from the wedding, you'd never guess he was over 30 years older than me!! (He's the one without the white beard!
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Before anyone asks, I think my nephew might have been being playfully attacked by a dog outside the marquee at the time!!
