My dad was a great man, but he was an alcoholic and his drinking was what I consider to be the main cause for my family to fall apart.

Separately from this I recently had the privilege to go to the funeral of Fred. Maybe it sounds odd that I call it a privilege, but to me it was. I didn’t know Fred very well, he was the boyfriend of my partner’s mum. When I did meet Fred he was always fun to be around.

We got invited to his funeral and whilst everyone there was very sad, the tales of Fred’s life were of joy. His solution to almost all problems was to suggest that they go drink a beer (his favourite was Duvel). He was struck down with Parkinson’s in his later life, but he still carried his joy. At his funeral there was a beautiful video of him, crippled with Parkinson’s dancing around and laughing with his daughter.

There’s not much that connects Fred and dad, but they both loved music and stereos. I believe they both managed to electrocute themselves whilst tinkering with their amplifiers. I’m currently doing my best to learn about amplifiers and speakers (and not electrocute myself) with the help of a friend of mine.

Dad also loved a laugh, my favourite memories from childhood are massive scale water fights that lasted for hours and ended with us all soaked and water running down the stairs.

He also managed to convince my mum that the initials RMC which stand for Ready Mixed Concrete were named after him (Roger Mark Channing). Apparently my mum started boasting about this to her friends and was very embarrassed when she learned the truth.

What I’ve learned is that alcohol along with all drugs is a health problem and that joy along with just the right amount of beer is the answer to all problems.

In honour of both these great men, I give you the philosophy of Homer: