(Read by Graeme Longden, one time brother-in-law and enduring friend, written by Roy.)

The story is told of a man and his wife from Edinburgh who decided, against the advice of most of their respective families and all of their friends, to take their two young sons on an adventure to an island in the Caribbean. Jim was a teacher who had been offered a job at a high school in the hills of Jamaica by a fellow Scot who had himself lived and worked in the Caribbean for many years. His wife was a nurse who was assured she would quickly find work in a local hospital. Which she did.

Life in Jamaica in the late 1960s was not always easy. Intermittent power cuts and water shortages, dreadfully pot-holed roads, occasional shortages of basic foodstuffs, legions of biting insects and the odd hurricane often combined to make life for the family challenging. At the same time, however, they enjoyed the company of the people they met, of working in a school and hospital where they were encouraged to take on responsibilities that would not have been offered to them back in Scotland, and their sons Roy and Neil loved the freedom that came with growing up in the hills of Jamaica. The adventure lasted three years, and at the end of their respective contracts, Jim and his wife returned to Scotland. However, they could not settle and within a year the family had returned to Jamaica and to a part of the world that would become home to them in one way or another for the next 20 years.

Alas, Jim and his wife decided to go their separate ways and the boys remained with their father. Undaunted but frequently in awe of the enormity of the task before him, Jim nevertheless moved forward one day at a time determined that his sons should have whatever opportunities he could provide them with. Aided and abetted by many good friends and colleagues with kind souls, he did just that. Both boys finished high school in the Cayman Islands and then went on to colleges in North America, the younger son Neil on a football scholarship to a school in Tennessee and the elder son Roy to a university in Canada. Both sons would eventually return to the Cayman Islands and while Neil lives there still with his family, Roy embarked on a career path in teaching that would take him back to Jamaica and then onto Scotland, England and latterly to China.

As Jim began to consider retiring from the classroom after nearly 30 years, he remarried and decided to move to the United States where his retirement lasted all of 6 weeks. He got bored, and after a couple of weeks of searching he managed to find a job in a hardware store chain in Florida where he ran the paint department. Lesser men would have considered such a job a step down of sorts, but for Jim it was an opportunity to put to good use his organizational and logistical skills which had served him well in the classroom and before that, as a forester in Scotland, and before that as a Lance Corporal in the 27th Field Engineering Battalion on the Rhine in Germany during his days of National Service. As in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, Jim became good friends with several of his colleagues, many of whom he stayed in touch with after his second marriage ended and he decided to return to Scotland. At the time, Roy was teaching in a small fishing village on the west coast and suggested that his father move to Argyll to enjoy his second go at retirement. Jim agreed, and this time his retirement lasted a whole 8 weeks. An application to be a tour guide at Inveraray Castle was accepted and for the next five years, Jim worked each April to October at the Castle where he told stories about the history of Inveraray and of the Castle to tourists from around the world. The letter of recommendation Jim received from the Duke and Duchess of Argyll remained among his most treasured possessions.

In the off season, Jim would sometimes return to visit Neil and his family in the Cayman Islands, he would read voraciously and spend many an hour in conversation with Roy. They would often go for walks in the forests of Argyll where Jim had started his career as a forester before switching to teaching. His life-long love of trees and of nature generally was obvious to anyone who spent time in his company. When Roy left Scotland and moved to Cumbria to gain experience in English schools so he could return to the international teaching circuit, Jim decided to move to the Lake District also. This would turn out to be the last stop in a lifetime of adventure. By this time, he was into his 8th decade and slowing down on several fronts. He stayed retired this time and when Roy revealed that he and his wife were thinking about moving to China to teach, Jim maintained his only regret was that he wasn’t able to carry their bags.

Being on the far side of the world did not however mean that there were prolonged interruptions to the ongoing conversation between Jim and Roy. Skype calls on Saturday evenings from China and annual return visits each summer ensured that Jim and Roy remained very close in spite of the thousands of miles between them. The onset of dementia proved a challenge but with the support of Stephanie, a lovely carer, Jim spent the twilight years of his life contented and cared for.

When the end finally did come, it was relatively quick. He was in very little or no pain and fortunately both Roy and Neil were able to visit him before Jim decided that he was tired and that it was probably time for him to move on to his next adventure. Jim has left behind family, friends, inspired students and a collection of stories and treasured memories of a life well lived.

Godspeed Dad. I already miss our conversations.