I've started to write to you 3 times now and not managed to find the right words to express how we feel. Sorry doesn’t even come close. We are absolutely stunned by Richard’s death and feel so far away and useless. I can’t even begin to imagine what you and the children are going through. Even though Richard had been ill for so long he was full of life and optimism that there was never any question or conclusion other than for him to get well. This has made his death all the more difficult to cope with and to accept. Richard was unique, he was funny, kind, and could also be a git. But despite this he was loved by many people, including us. We will both miss him more then we could ever have imagined. When someone dies you see missed opportunities, our biggest regret is that he didn't make it to visit us here. Finally we've managed to get the place warm and comfortable. Too late. You asked for some light hearted bit for Friday. Well I've got 2. The first was when we went to Tenerife. If you remember we had planned on a typically Canarian evening. Went to a typically Canarian restaurant and ended up with prawn cocktail, steak and black forest gateaux followed by a drag artist who took a shine to Richard and during his performance of "I'm a Barbie girl" ended up sitting on his knee. The look on Richards face was a picture and left the rest of us nearly on the floor with laughter. A good night, pity there are no pictures. The second is when he dropped in on us while we were on holiday in Cyprus. Richard was on business in the Middle East and decided to spend a couple of days with us. We hired a couple of motorbikes and did some off road lizard chasing on dirt tracks which turned out to be dry river beds. God knows how we got away with now falling off or wrecking the bikes. We then went on road and had a trip to Aphrodite's rock. He thoroughly enjoyed the day and managed to get sunburned in the process. I do have some photos of this one so will root them out when I come home. Our love and thoughts are with you all. Raise a glass to him on Friday from me wont you.