Old Hamish 1911 - 2009

My old pal .,,. and I mean OLD ,,, didn't quite make it.
Only a couple of weeks ago he was telling me he had now less than a year & a half to go .,,. to get his telegram from Buck House !
Yeah, he made it to 98 and 3/4 ,.,. like a slightly older Adrian Mole !
Sadly, we took him to Craigton Crematorium this morning and said our last farewells.
Hamish was one helluva fellah .,,. a golfer of some note ( in his younger days he played off 4 ! .,., now that's what I call a golfer ? ) a founder member of our Seniors section, he joined the club as a full member in 1942 ,, before I was even a twinkle in Daddy's eye ! ,., a tramcar and later a bus driver for many years, all through the war he drove with a simple little torch to light his way in the black-outs .,., a raconteur, a joker, a flirt with the women, and a truly gentle man, of teuchter origin. He was born & raised in Kinggussie, son of the local Solicitor and his operatic singer wife ,, he had 3 brothers and a sister ,, all gone now bar Eefie ( yeah that's the correct spelling ),, she was there today, a youngster at only 96 ! Is there something in yon Hielan' watter that we should know about I wonder ??
Even with all those advanced years on the clock he drove to his golf club every other day for lunch, a blether and some exercise ! And every day he walked 1 mile after breakfast and another after lunch .,., if the weather didn't suit his slight frame he would get on his home exercise bike and pedal the 2-miles !!
So that was the secret then .,.,?
He was a neighbour in a million to his fellow flat dwellers .,,. driving them to the supermarket or the hairdresser or whatever .,., and ( and here's the rub ) visiting them when they were taken ill and in hospital.
Two weeks ago, after finishing lunch with us "young boy pals" in Cowglen he went to the Southern General hospital to visit an old lady from his block of flats.
After the visit he stopped in the toilet for a simple pee before driving home ,..,
These hospital toilets are quite large and have their light switches on the wall outside. Hamish was slow ,,, some idiot passing some minutes later switched off the light ,, He became disorientated and stumbled over in the dark, badly bruising his frail old bod ,, leg, arm, shoulder ,, but worse even ,, he wasn't found, lying there in pain, 'till about an hour later. The arm, leg and shoulder weren't broken so we hoped he'd be ok ,, but alas the shock was just too much for the old guy ,, he suffered a fatal heart attack and never made it back from that visit .,.,
nor btw did his old ( a mere 75 ) lady friend.
A sad end for a true gent but at least it wasn't long and lingering in some smelly old folks home ?
We'll miss you Hamish.