Lesley 4th May 2017

I would like to record some memories of Felix. I remember the day Alex and Sophie rang to tell us that she was going to have a baby. That was a wonderful day even though I had to recognise being in the grandparent generation. Then there I was arriving at the Rosie Maternity Hospital to meet Felix for the first time. I was allowed to hold him and from than on we were attached. I remember looking after Felix a bit in Exeter when Lucian was born. It was May and still quite cold but he wanted to paddle in the local park pool where we went every day. He was intrepid and always begged to be allowed to prance through the very cold water and get amazingly wet and cold. There were times in Ashburton when I came to babysit for the two boys and Felix helped me when Lucian was little, advising me about the usual techniques that Mummy would have used. We would walk down to the shops with him holding on to the buggy and later with both of them zooming ahead but stopping virtuously at the edges of roads. Later we went on the very high ride at the local Fair and I clutched both of them as they gazed with exhilaration and fear as the ground fell away beneath us. Felix was brave. We went into the tunnel of an old railway line that was made into a walk about a kilometre long and very dark with just a faint prick of light at the far end. Felix was old enough to know that there are dangers in the dark and I told him that the more he was afraid, the braver it was to go into the dark. He did it. Recently he came to Cambridge to see us and we sat with him on our terrace and talked on a sunny summer evening. Now I can’ t walk past that place without thinking of him and how he had grown into a charming and intelligent companion. So sleep well dear Felix. We will keep you in our minds now. Lesley