Family photo from 1958 in Kirk Michael: Back row: John Crowe (who passed away today), Kathryn Crowe, Kenyon Crowe, Ruby Crowe, Gwelda Lambden, Bill Lambden. Front row: Murray Lambden, Frank Crowe MHK, Michael Crowe, Graham Crowe, Ruth Crowe (Sutherland), Janice Crowe (Corlett), Martin Lambden, Linda Crowe (Harding), Michael Lambden, Amy Crowe.
Three weeks ago, on the Saturday before the 20 mile race, my mailbox was overflowing with people concerned about not being able to access the forum. I very much wish they could and I am flattered that the manxathletics.com forum is such an important part of their lives. I am still considering the possibility of moving to a new forum. But more about that another day.
I ran out of time to do anything about it that day. I wanted to attend a fund raising morning at Cannan Court in Kirk Michael, a fantastic sheltered housing complex in Kirk Michael, where my late mother had been one of the first residents when it opened in 1998. An old family friend, Elizabeth Kissack, was signing copies of her new book - she is close to 90 I think. Her late husband the Rev Rex Kissack married us in 1984 and they were 2 of only 15 people who attended the reception.
The Isle of Man was at its best that morning and I had a beautiful drive over the mountain and I had lots of thoughts that I should be doing this more often. Its very unlikely that I will be saying on my deathbed that I wish I had produced one more page for the website but I did think I would regret things in my life if I don't see more of older people before they pass away.
Perhaps it was because of the age of those that attended but it was as if I had never been away from Kirk Michael. I met loads of people that I remembered from my youth when I used to work on a milk round that delivered to virtually every house in Kirk Michael.
I've only had two uncles, John and Kenyon Crowe, my mother's brothers. They don't live in Kirk Michael but were both born there and they were also both at the coffee morning too - with an average age of close to 90 they were still much too independent to live somewhere like Cannan Court!
It was the last time that I was to see John Crowe, who died today a couple of months short of his 92nd birthday. He had lived at Belmont House for more than 60 years with his wife Kathryn who now lives in Elder Grange Nursing Home. Their kindness and hospitality was well known to hundreds of people in the Isle of Man and as children, our Christmas days would be spent at Belmont. Despite the size of the house, the close family used to meet in the kitchen for coffee every Saturday morning.
John was manager at Martins Bank in Douglas and became manager of the larger Barclays after it acquired Martins. A frequent letter writer to the newspapers, he also checked out the sports pages. After I won the Syd Quirk Half Marathon in 2004 he phoned me to congratulate me - I had first entered it 25 years. He then offered me some advice: "You looked in terrible pain in the photo. Now that you have finally won it after all these years, don't you think it is time to pack it in?". I often think of that advice but continue to ignore it. During a hard training session I wonder whether I should have taken his advice.
John Crowe pictured a few weeks ago aged 91. He was honoured for bravery in the second world war but only in later life did he talk about the war.
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