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Life is cruel
The few days after the death, that is what my family kept saying;
and life is cruel, but only for short periods. Today we are here
to celebrate the much longer periods over the 79 years. Normans
life, has been a long enjoyable time including family with 5 marriages,
3 children, 5 grandchildren
So we all remember Norman for his love of the army = Why did he
love it? It was not just for the fact that he was serving the
country, it was as much the social side. When you went for a beer
in the club you heard about his adventures in Malaya, Northern
Ireland, Berlin or Paderborn or numerous camps throughout the
UK. The stories were mainly about the antics he got up to in and
mainly off the field
Then after that came the jokes. He became well known among friends
& family for terrible ones that he often repeated and always
laughed at (no matter how many times he'd told you them).
Memories Peter asked me to share:-
1. I remember him getting in about a dozen crates of beer for
a New Year's party we were having in Berlin around 1970. He stored
them out on the balcony, the problem was that the winter temperatures
in Berlin had dropped to around -15c and the bottles had all frozen
and popped, driest New Year dad ever had.
2. Dad was a very smart man and on my wedding day he insisted
on bulling up (polishing to a high shine) all the shoes of the
Groom, Best man and the ushers. Please Fusiliers do not check
them today.
Memories Karen asked to share:-
1. Karen always had love of horror. When she was a little girl
how made up she was when her dad let her stay up late to watch
the hammer house of horrors with him
2. Fun fair with Elsie and Julie how her dad would always go on
the fast rides with her because everyone else was too scared.
Norman loved the excitement
Memories Julie asked to share:-
1. One of the funniest things dad said involved our Julie ~ She'd
dyed her hair and it had turned orange, she came downstairs and
was obviously very upset, but dad just burst out laughing and
asked her why she had our pet corgi Kim sat on her head…..
2. On her wedding day, she had old style suspenders, none of girls
or Elsie knew how to put them on, so in stepped Norman, typical
ladies man; he knew how (its part of LF
training)
My overall memories were of his laughter and happiness. We nearly
lost him after heart attack 7 years ago so it was a great honour
to be able to take him to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. Last
Christmas it was great to bring him over to Brisbane Australia,
he was so happy to see and enjoy the lifestyle over there.
So Norman was always the happy man, yes he could be moody, but
he had strong high opinions about life, his country, sometimes
politics but was always happy and enjoyable. As a family man always
strong, supportive, and showed little emotions except for later
in life as he mellowed.
One thing we know he did not like ceremonies but enjoyed the do's
after. He would not have like the fuss of this gathering today,
but this is for us to say goodbye. So after our final farewells
lets go back to the club and enjoy the 79 years and remember how
he would like us to do, celebrating and telling bad jokes. Thanks
for attending and lets enjoy the club.
Gary Littler
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