You may recall me telling you about a former neighbour (Robert Baird) passing away from Covid-19 recently, and I've just been informed tonight that the person who told me (another former neighbour from the same street) has also passed away, though it doesn't seem to have been Covid-related. Kenny Tierney was his name, affectionately known as 'Wee Barra', and whenever he saw me in the local shopping centre, he always took the time to stop and have a wee blether.
Ironically, Kenny used to live directly across the back from Robert's house when I lived in the area (and for a few years after I flitted in 1972, Robert's family relocating to Essex around '76), and it's sad to think that I'll never see either Kenny or Robert ever again. Hopefully they're playing a game of football together somewhere 'up there'.
So condolences to Kenny's family, friends, and colleagues. It sounds like a cliche, but he was liked by everyone and the world is a poorer place for his passing. I've borrowed a photo from his Facebook page, and also included a photo of him, his dad, and his brother back in the '60s, which he himself supplied me with a few years back when I was doing a post about his dad, who wrote letters under the name of 'Goofy' to various newspapers. Rest in peace, wee man.
I'm truly sorry for your loss. He sounds--and looks--like a lovely person. For anyone to be "liked by everyone" is quite an achievement.
ReplyDeleteI live in Oregon, USA, and have never seen a cricket paddle in my entire life.
Given how old the photo looks, I take it that you might be a few years older than I. It's also true that when I was a boy--in the '50s--that boys where I grew up (Mississippi) simply did not wear shorts. When, in the '60s, I entered high school (at age fourteen), boys wore shorts in PE (physical education), but not outside of PE despite living in a very hot and humid climate, boys wore pants.
The photo was taken around 1967 or '68 probably, so I'm a little younger than you (though I probably look older). You've never seen a cricket bat before? Well, why should you have? They don't play cricket in the States, do they? Thanks for commenting.
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