We lost my father-in-law, George, a year ago between Christmas and New Year. He was a good man, into his eighties, who had spent much of his career in the British Civil Service, including the Ministry of Agriculture, Farming and Fisheries.  He had many interesting stories to tell, including how he ended up at Wembley for the 1966 World Cup Final with free tickets as none of his colleagues believed England would reach that far!

George’s passion was for books. He was always reading, was never without a book in his hand, and when asked what he would like for presents we were sent a list of books. He very reluctantly halved the size of his library when he an my mother-in-law, Beverley, downsized and moved to the seaside for their retirement. Beverley still found books hidden in cupboards and drawers.

This is how we wanted to remember him, so instead of flowers at his funeral we asked people to buy a a children’s book that meant something to them. We arranged with the Primary school he attended to donate them to their library. We were blown away by people’s generosity and we were able to donate over 100 beautiful books!

We continued it again this year but on a smaller scale. With my wife’s family staying with us over Christmas, we visited a local bookshop and each bought a couple of books to donate to a Primary school local to us. I chose some books about neurodiversity because I’d have liked to have read these when I was a kid. We plan on making this an annual tradition. George would have loved sharing his joy of reading with the school kids.

What book would you choose to give to your younger self?

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