haha
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
He was still a very vigorous looking man. I bet he was quite proud of all of you!Ditto, I don't know what it was. Most of my grandparents and great grandparents lived into their late 70's or early 80's despite living and working in pit villages and all of them being heavy smokers.
My favorite was the great grandfather that I knew very well, as I used to run errands for him. He was a coal miner and was already in the reserves when WW I started so he served in France in the trenches from 1914 through to being discharged "60% disabled" in 1919. That was according to his military record that DW found on a trip to the national archives in Kew a few years ago. His record shows medical leaves for "normal" stuff such as dysentery & hemorrhoids, as well being gassed twice and gun shot wounds to the arm. He also won the Military Medal during one action re-supplying a gun post that had been isolated.
After the war he went back down the mine and in 1938 fell down a mineshaft resulting in having his right leg amputated just below the knee. He then had a "wooden leg" and used to walk with the aid of a cane.
Here is a photo of him on his 90th birthday (I'm the tall one at the back in blue V-neck sweater). He died aged 92.
Ha