Happy Birthday, Big Brother!

David Mail
Today, it's my brother David's 59th Birthday.

I'm sure it's a birthday David won't forget, though not necessarily for the right reasons. A few days ago he was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer and he will be spending most of his birthday in hospital in London. Hopefully this evening he'll be able to get out for a couple of hours to have a meal with the family.

Unfortunately, since speaking to David earlier, he was told that he needs an emergency op. this afternoon and so his 'birthday meal' ended up being breakfast, and he probably won't be able to eat again for a few days.

Jonathan, Lesley, David and Simon

I couldn't ask for a kinder, more generous or supportive brother and consider myself very lucky. As brother and sister, we did have a few 'moments' as youngsters when there'd be the odd dispute, but generally, we've always got along very well. As kids we often played together. We both had brown bear glove puppets, Binge and Twinge and we spent many hours together playing Subbuteo. Once into our teens, we attended the same youth movement and had lots of friends in common. It was particularly beneficial for me having a brother three years older, as some of his friends ended up as boyfriends.

After graduating from Strathclyde University in 1971 with a BA Hons in Economics & Marketing, David moved down south to his first job, working for United Biscuits (our Russian grandmother couldn't understand why he spent all those years studying just to go and make biscuits) in Liverpool. He's been an ardent Liverpool supporter ever since. After a brief spell back in Glasgow, David moved down to London, working in IT and then in project management. He married Lesley in 1978 and they now live in Watford and have sons Jonathan, 28 and Simon, 25.

David took early retirement from his job as a management consultant partner a few years ago. A lot of his time nowadays is taken up with bridge and he currently plays in three leagues, Southgate & District, Hertfordshire and Middlesex and is building up a collection of trophies. He also plays guitar, does voluntary work and with Lesley, likes to travel.

Hopefully I'll get down to Watford soon, but in the meantime I wish my big brother

Many Happy and Healthier returns and a Speedy Recovery!