Tribute to Uncle Bill

This is a post dedicated to my uncle, William McMillan who passed away recently in Ireland. Here is a picture of him taking me, ( far right) my brother Ken, and two of his children, Anne and John, to see Santa in Belfast in 1960! I have such happy memories of those early days, before tv was a big deal, and when we went on family holidays in the caravan to isolated beaches, in the cold, And had such fun!

I remember Uncle Bill making us pancakes with raisins in them one night, and digging a big hole with my dad, so we could all jump in and out of it... And they reversed the film and it looked like we were all jumping up out of it cleverly!

But what I most remember about Uncle Bill was not the kind things he did for other people, but the time he gave me a little leather coin purse, when I was seven and had measles, and couldn't go on a trip to the seaside. He came back from the day trip and gave me this little purse that said " Millisle" on it (and had a little shamrock on it )- the place where they all went. I thought he was the best Uncle in the world.

The things we do for children are not irrelevant, or unimportant, but probably more important than the things we might achieve in our working life, or other things we might consider major achievements...

And the legacy we leave is what people remember - not necessarily what we think was significant...















As time goes on, we become more aware of the fragility of life. I hope that the children Uncle Bill brought to the Wednesday night Children's meetings are now living well as a result of what they heard those days.

That is the legacy we

want to leave.

Thank you, Uncle Bill!





To his close family who will be feeling sad:-

Better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all... (Tennyson)