August 2016
My daft old dad, a huge inspiration for my travels and adventures around the world, had started slipping away from us. Vascular dementia is a cruel condition. I was kicking myself for not recording some of my dad’s more hilarious anecdotes and life lessons when I had the chance.
As I helped my mum with the legal side of things and put in place what needed to be done in order for us to look after my dad for the foreseeable (none of us would stand putting him in a home unless it was absolutely necessary), I cracked on with Man of the World.
Can I just say at this point that Liverpool Central Library is truly beautiful?
When I was writing The Odyssey Expedition blog, I would sometimes go off on one about architecture and its importance in celebrating culture and diversity around the world. I can’t help but feel that everything has been replaced by bland, faceless boxes these days. Boxes on top of boxes. That being the case, the sight of one of my favourite Liverpool buildings, The Futurist Cinema, being ripped down to be replaced with a giant box, broke my heart into a million pieces.
FFS.
The next day, we did the usual tourist stuff: Antony Gormley’s Another Place, Penny Lane, Superlambananas and a beer down at Dr Duncan’s. Liverpoolin’ to the MAX.
As each of Man of the World’s 30 chapters came together, I managed to catch up with more of my family and friends…
Meanwhile, something that had been not-so-subtly pointed out to me by various people was that I could really do with a haircut. “You gorra mad-‘ed lad” as we say in Liverpool.
So when I found out our good family friend Lizzie was coming over, I thought I might as well put her mad skillz as a professional hairdresser to use on my barnet.
But Jinja was calling me. As much as I was getting shit done here in Liverpool, Jason couldn’t hold the fort over there forever. I’d have to head back to Bocas as soon as was feasible.
