Those of you who knew him well

would often have heard

He had his own special phrases

'Tom' kind of words

Police officers used 'cruncheons'

to deal with any strife

If things were a bit frustrating

He'd complain about the 'inter convenience' of life

Mum recently bought some

'conservatory' style spectacles

And a cat fish in an aquarium had enormous 'testicles' (instead of tentacles!)

Telling us of his neighbour,

the one who bred 'Puffs'

A much nicer name for the dogs

known as Pugs

He had a sense of humour

And liked a bit of fun

He issued Ellis an invoice for parking on his drive

For quite a hefty sum!

As children he would impress us

with his origami skills with a bit of cloth

making lots of folds and creases

to create himself a bikini top

We often had days out to the forest

But his  favourite day by far

was dragging us all around to showrooms

to find a family car

We  had quite a few old bangers

But he knew exactly what to do

He'd work on them and fix them

until they were just like new

Always very handy, fixing what we needed

However a warning was to be heeded

Everything had to be the strongest and the best

Anything he made had to be bigger and heavier

than the rest

Like a framed picture to hang

upon our wall

It weighed too much, to put it up

There's no way it wouldn't  fall

Please pass on skills and knowledge

to a son-in-law or grandson

When making or repairing broken things

We know that will continue

But now he will be mending angels broken wings

A bit fiery at times

Like when his foot went in a bucket of wallpaper paste

The air was rather blue, steam came from his ears and

he was very red in the face!

When we were small

He'd be rather strict or stern

By the time the grandchildren came along

he didn't have a care or make a fuss

They had it much easier than us!

But as he mellowed, those action films he loved

Westerns and of war

now included 'Dirty Dancing'

Especially when Patrick Swayze lifts Jennifer Grey

up off the floor

And, an old romantic

He could still be heard to say

That mum looked absolutely beautiful

On their wedding day

To mention that walking stick

How he relied upon it so

Until the rock and roll started

Then away the stick would go

Even in his 80s he could jive among the best

We know that's what he'll be dong in heaven

when the music is on

He's never one to rest

He could be a difficult person

that we know is true

But he also had a soft spot

enough love for each and every one of you

So if you hear some rock n roll

in your head or heart

or from the sky above

You know Tom will be jiving

and sending down some love

Cheryl

xx