Basil Beckett

The earliest memory I have of my father was when he picked me up out of my cot in the night and sang "Polly Wally Doodle all the day" to me. I was very young but pretended to be asleep so that I could hear his voice. Dad was so popular and had such a wonderful sense of humour. One day he brought home an orphaned baby Genet that had been found by the cane cutters. He had it inside his jacket pocket. The poor little creature was petrified and wild and we had no idea how to look after it. It just wouldnt eat anything and so in desperation we handed it to Fluffy the cat who had a litter of kittens and Fluffy just calmly took over the nursing of the baby Genet and treated it like one of her kittens. Ooffie (named for the noises me made when running) loved Dad and would run up Dad's leg and on to his shoulder where Dad would feed him a boiled egg. At Christmas time Dad would always put up decorations - his favourite being balloons and Chinese lanterns. Ooffie also liked the balloons and lanterns and managed to break, pop or tear them all but in such a silly way that Dad didnt mind at all. Oofie wasnt with us for very long - he simply vanished one day and we never saw him again - just like Dad who was taken away from us when he was far too young and before we had time for enough "togetherness". I miss him still and always will.