Friday 26 May 2017

Bye Jimmy


Just got back from a wonderful day and night spent in this place, deep in Wales and surrounded by sheep and hills.

Pros: Every tree-type imaginable for this part; every bird species including Cuckoo and Red Kite; a haunted house right next door; more sheep than I have the energy to introduce myself to; a clear stream running in a ravine below; youthful company in the form of a birthday boy and associates.

Cons: Not only coming back, but getting caught up in traffic right outside an undertaker as a friend in a coffin gets put into the back of a hearse ready for his send-off which we have come back to be witness to. Well I didn't come back for it but The Daughter and Husband did,

Was that Jimmy the drummer in that box that we just happened to stop right next to? Surely not. Turns out it was. How strange that we stop in stagnant traffic beside Dolmans as they push his flower-covered casket in and out, three feet next to us, trying to get it in the best way.

This is the third partner that has died far too soon on my young friend. They told him that there was a 1% chance of getting leukaemia if he took that drug for a heart condition, and he turned out to be in that 1% bracket.

I have known her since she was a kid and her parents were next door neighbours at one point. Her and Daughter have been mates since childhood. She has two children of her own now.

Some people have all the bad luck,

11 comments:

  1. That really does sound like 'bad luck'.

    I've always liked the idea of A frame houses. I presume the fencing was to keep the Sheep out.

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  2. Did you all sleep together on the floor like in a tent?

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    Replies
    1. There is an upstairs with rows of beds side by side. I was downstairs on the sofa.

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  3. Luck always has been indiscriminate.

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  4. Replies
    1. Yes, but I was also talking about his partner who, although quite a lot younger than him, has had three husbands die on her over the last few years. That really is unlucky.

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    2. Jimmy's last job was as the drummer for Manfred Mann's Earth Band.

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    3. I just read about him. He played with and knew the best. Jeff Beck and more. Born 1953. Very sad and clearly a good and well respected drummer.

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    4. Yes. I didn't really know him because I only met him a couple of times, but I have known his surviving wife since she was about 12. Very sad.

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