Spreading fun with a ready smile
MY FATHER COLIN by Yvonne Flynn
DAD never knew any blood relatives until the day I was born.
He was given up by his birth mother at a very young age and, although he remained devoted to the couple who brought him up, I know in his quieter moments he often wondered what the real story of his family was.
He was in his 70s before that answer came – but how richly he lived life.
Everywhere he went he made friends, and every friend he made had more laughter in their life for knowing him.
that laughter went further than his love of jokes. Its real basis was in his love of people – so evident in his natural warmth and easy, off-the cuff humour.
He travelled widely but it was one street, Waterton Road in Aberdeen, that provided the backdrop to much of his life.
A family friend tells me she first saw him there in 1962 – suntanned and handsome in his Forces uniform as he returned home from National service in Cyprus.
It was to Waterton Road that he would bring Liz, his wife of 54 years, and together they made it a home for me and my sisters Alison and Pamela.
We remember the tree swing he made us, the hurls in his wheelbarrow, his encyclopaedic knowledge of everything that helped us with our homework, the caravan holidays and his endless capering.
He and my mum enjoyed a long and happy marriage, and I can safely say his love for her was huge. I know this because the one thing Dad hated most in life was shopping. Yet he would always go shopping with her and always with a smile.
He was the one who kindled my interest in journalism and, for many years, I was lucky enough to have him as a colleague at Aberdeen Journals.
there, his ability to fix just about anything made him a valued colleague for hundreds of people. And it didn’t matter if you were the managing director or serving him his rowie in the canteen, he was always there with a smile and a joke.
When he took up bowling as a hobby it wasn’t long before he became a stalwart at Newhills Bowling Club and many happy hours of his retirement were spent fixing and serving behind the bar.
three years ago the mystery of his birth family was solved when a reader saw his golden wedding picture in the paper and spotted the Flynn surname and a striking family resemblance between Dad and her first husband. she got in touch and the truth unravelled. It was a bittersweet moment for Dad. Not only had his birth mother passed away but so too had all three brothers he never knew he had.
Dad was sad not to have met his brothers, but delighted to learn he had nieces and nephews. He welcomed them into his home, his life and his heart. I’m thrilled his long lost blood relatives had a chance to know his warmth and sense of fun.
Colin Flynn was born on november 19, 1938, and died on September 23, 2017, aged 78.