Dignity

I try not to be too serious in my musings. Life can be rather too serious sometimes. But this week The Boss and I lost someone who meant very much to us. So I feel I must contain my customary jaundiced view from the pavement and write some words in tribute of one the best friends, and lovely human beings, we have known. Our friend, Barry Lawton.

Footprints runnin’ cross the silver sand
Steps goin’ down into tattoo land
I met the sons of darkness and the sons of light
In the bordertowns of despair

Got no place to fade, got no coat
I’m on the rollin’ river in a jerkin’ boat
Tryin’ to read a letter to me somebody wrote
About dignity

Sick man lookin’ for the doctors cure
Lookin’ at his hands for the lines that were
And into every masterpiece of literature
For dignity

Englishman stranded in the blackheart wind
Combin’ his hair back, his future looks thin
He bites the bullet and he looks within
For dignity

Someone showed me a picture, I just had to laugh
Dignity never been photographed
I went into the red, went into the black
Went into the valley of dry bone dreams

So many roads, so much at stake
So many dead ends and I’m at the edge of the lake
Sometimes I wonder what it’s gonna take
To find dignity

The Boss tells me he has known Barry for 42 years. He tells me that he had the greatest sense of humour he has ever encountered in his life. That he was far far funnier than any professional comedian. That he was clever. That he was unspoiled by success. That he was, in the words of the Bosses son Robert, simply a great man.

He inspired Him Indoors to learn to cook by developing his own wonderful cooking skills. He was honesty personified but knew how to “play the game” of business. He was brave. He was intensely loyal. He was a truly great husband and father. He was the rock upon which Carole and Pippa totally relied. He was kind. He was as soft as putty yet hard as nails.

When The Bosses wife Chris was taken ill, Barry and Carole were amongst their most supportive friends. They looked after them in many ways. When Chris died, Barry and Carole became his rock too. Always checking to make sure he was surviving his loss, wasn’t lonely or alone, making sure his grief wasn’t too over-powering to stop his life.

This world can be a wonderful place but it can also be cruel. The Big C is an unforgiving beast that takes no prisoners and is no respecter of goodness. This world is a very much poorer place today without Barry Lawton to spread his unique brand of sunshine.

The Boss and I will miss you Barry, more than any words can express. Thanks for everything. Thanks for showing the world exactly what “Dignity” really means.