i miss you a lot. i keep thinking about our small trips to the store, taking dhiren and i out, and you playing pool with him. the everlasting memories. your smile & laugh is forever in my mind. you are my inspiration. i would do anything to sit with you, to see you smile, laugh, and talk. to catch up on everything that has happened, to joke, to smile, to laugh. to think about that one time we ate so much ice cream & cookies at disney. you inspire me, uncle john. you inspire me to try my best. to chase my dreams. to be me. to keep looking up. to keep moving forward towards better things. you are a father to me and you always will be. i know you’re in paradise right now, the purest & sweetest angel. the most kind & amazing person i’ve ever met. the book i’m writing is dedicated to you. every accomplishment & dream i work toward fulfilling is for you. as you and auntie shantie once said, “fill my book of life with colors.” i’ll always live but that. always. you’re forever in my heart & mind. i love you.

John It’s crazy that I’m writing this about my Grandad, John. I should have been on a flight yesterday, on my way to my grandparents house in Florida to spend Christmas with my family. John would’ve been waiting at the airport to pick me and Thomas up, with his white explorer’s hat on and his arms folded, and a bag with Gran’s potato balls ready for us to eat. He’d most probably been stuck in traffic for hours on the way there, but showed no sign of stress or annoyance as he helped us with our bags. Throughout his life, all John ever did was work as hard as possible for the benefit of his family. Every hour he spent in his salon, or in his home office, was to ensure that at some point at a later date, he could give us the best possible life we could have. Growing up, myself and my brother spent weeks on end at our grandparents house in Essex. At the time it seemed like a castle; each room had its own experience, whether it be the piano in Mum and Aud’s room (which Gran bought for John for Christmas one year but he never practised), or the video room under the stairs full of all of John’s films he had collected over the years. I always remember there being a few 15 and 18 rated films that me and Thomas would always be too scared to watch incase John ever found out. Whenever he would come home from a long days work, still in his John Michael work shirt, he’d get straight on the phone to Odeon cinema and book a film for us three to watch. After the film, he’d reach in his pocket and give us some pound coins so we could play on the arcade games for half an hour. He’d always watch us shooting zombies with a look on his face that said ‘although this is a load of nonsense, I’m fully interested and engaged, only because my grandsons are’. On his few days off of work he’d take us to the swimming pool and teach us how to swim. I tried walking along the bottom of the pool a few times and pretend to swim with my arms just to get it all over and done with, but John wasn’t going to give up until we were swimming full lengths on our own. No matter how long of a day he’d had, he always put the stresses of life aside and spend quality time with me and my brother; he would always so selflessly be the best Grandad ever. Growing up, John continued to teach me so many things. From the value of money, to how to be an adult and act like one. He was truly a second father to me. He inspired me to focus on my career and build things from the ground up, and taught me the value of hard work. I’ll carry those teachings with me for the rest of my life, and one day I’ll teach them to my grandchildren just as he did. I’m sure everyone here would agree that John was not only a loving Grandfather, but a Husband, Father, Teacher and Visionary that inspired us all to be the best versions of ourselves and provide for those around us. If I grow older to become even half the man John was, I’ll truly be happy.

hello John , i write this knowing that somehow and somewhere you are still with us all , this I know because you always found time and place to do what others never seemed to be able to do and you did it with no second thought only kindness and friendship ever shown . Being so much more than a friend came easy to you , and the way you guided so many but still had so much time and love for your family on a level way above others will be the one thing that will always inspire and guide me through life Never will i forget our road trip down to Spain to fit out the apartment in the Transit breaking down as we went a story which i have shared with so many people Have the bar ready John for when we meet again Forever in our thoughts Russell , Tracy , And all the family