Uncle Mike was part of my life from early childhood. I have fond memories of him, Darryl and Lisa spending weekends with us in London. My mum Jill passed away twenty seven years ago and so Mike became my link to her, he would share many stories of their childhood, nan, grandad and the bakeries, I will miss this connection with him and them. 
 
Nick and I moved with Poppy and Alfie from London to Brighton twenty three years ago and we have always appreciated all the support Mike and Carol gave us at the time. It’s only been in recent years that we owned up to Mike that often after a visit to Hartfield Avenue with Poppy aged six and Alfie aged four, we would need to return under darkness so Nick could creep down the garden path and replace the dinosaurs we would find in Alfie’s pockets that he had taken from Mike and Carols garden.
 
There are many memories, lots with fondness and laughter and some with “did you really just say that to me Mike!”. He certainly didn’t mince his words and of course he was always right! There were definitely times when he would make me mad and we certainly didn’t share similar political views, but he was Mike and it didn’t matter as I always knew that underneath it he would always be there for me.
 
Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without visiting Hartfield Avenue and ‘paying’ to see the decorations and yes they were worth seeing. Every year they would add to the collection making it a magical experience for the children, my favourite was always the snow scene under the stairs. They raised a lot of money over the years for the British Heart Foundation.
 
My recent memories of Mike are the visits to our home for lunch and a game of cards or the garden centre for his ‘Gluten Free’ fish and chips……… and they had better be ‘Gluten Free’
 
I will miss him lots but hold on to the many lasting memories I have Mandy xx