Memories of my Grandfather!

I've got a busy day a head of me today; I'm still sorting through boxes of paperwork and memories; many items haven't seen the light of day for  years.  Today I came across some documents from my Grandfather; his death certificate, passport and "Seaman's Record Books." These items are invaluable archives of a lovely man, who passed away many years ago.

I and have spent the last seventeen years tracing my family history. Articles such as these are not only fabulous memories, to remember my Grandfather, but also objects of great importance, when writing about my family tree. I have traced as far back as I can on my Grandfathers side, back to the 1540's, using all the resources at my disposal, charting my lineage back to a tiny village, called Whiteparish, on the Hampshire/Wiltshire border; interestingly a place I moved to, starting a business in the year 2000, unaware of my families connection to this place.

Grandad Eric was a man, who I still miss everyday. He was a merchant seaman, working for Pacific and Orient (P&O) for most of his life, traveling on the World famous Ocean liners of the time; The Uganda, Oriana, Canberra, Arcadia; to name but a few. The sea was in Eric's blood. During World War II, he was assigned to the Arctic convoys, which left from ports in the UK, Iceland and North America, delivering essential supplies to the Soviet Union. Grandad continued his merchant naval career after the war, eventually retiring and working for a number of years at The Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar, in Gosport.

I didn't see Grandad as much as I would have liked, as he was away at sea often; a special, enduring memory, was travelling to meet him with Nan, as he disembarked at Southampton Docks for shore leave. He would always bring myself and my brother bags and bags of sweets and souvenirs from his travels,  around the World. We used to have an old tin at home, full of coins and memories from Eric's life at sea.

I often think of Grandad Eric, I have some wonderful recollections of my time, spent with him. He was a gentleman, who never judged anyone, least of all myself and Darrell for who we were. He was always supportive of our relationship, having no hangups about homosexuality. As he once said to me, how could he be prejudiced against homosexuals, when as a Merchant Seaman, he worked with many of us everyday. 

These log books will be placed into a memory box, containing other important documents and photographs, that I am gradually adding too, as I finally sort through a lifetime of ephemera. I hope to one day pass down these items, to the younger generation in our family; hopefully they will continue to search for the lifelines, all of us need to understand who made us, who we are!

Kepping the memories alive, always!