A Tribute: Cecil Arlow
A Tribute to Cecil Arlow
It may seem strange reading in this paper about a tribute to a man who had never visited Madeira but I am sure that you the reader will understand that I (the editor) felt that I wanted to put pen to paper on a personal note and pay tribute to a very old and dear family friend who despite our whole family living out of the UK, stayed behind to be with his. Cecil, irritating as he was with his strong Cockney accent (‘Cor Blimey’ and ‘Cut it out’ (with the T’s missing the ends of the words) were his favourite expressions) and used to live in the Granny (Granddad flat) adjoining my family home in Ewhurst Surrey, was more than a tenant and friend but was adopted by us all. My children in particular saw him as an ‘adopted granddad’ particularly as he was so generous with his biscuits and sweets. He looked after our garden even through the moans and groans of his ageing body which we all teased ‘was all in the mind’. He once even blagged that he became severely ill from falling into our garden pond even though only the bottom of his legs touched the water. Cecil was a good laugh as he was always game for jokes and pranks and all at his expense. On a family trip to the States to visit my parents, and once again the victim of a family wind up, he jested that we could put his ashes in a coffee jar and he wanted it to sit on my parents mantle so that he could come back and haunt them and get his own back, the mantle is still empty but a photo of him sits in place instead. Since that visit he made many more, until ill health kept him from traveling.
Recently my parents flew over from the States and traveled up to Lowestoft where Cecil had been ill in hospital and sadly a few days after he passed away. At the age of 83 he had had a good innings, made loads of friends and was able to spend time with his children and enjoy his grandchildren in the last few years and will be sorely missed by us all.