Four sons! What was Dad thinking? Yet four of us there are, across 12 years, all with precious memories of Dad that are difficult to do justice to in words. Adam, Alex, James and Carl, or Sausage, Wormy, Jim-Jam and Cacka as Dad called us when we were babies.

Adam remembers growing up in Biggleswade, and when asked for early memories of Dad, recalls being spanked by Dad with a slipper! He must have been exceptionally naughty, as Dad was never really in charge of discipline! He also remembers Dad feeding his interest in engineering and aviation with visits to the Shuttleworth Collection, and of Mum and Dad standing freezing on the sidelines watching him play football.

For the rest of us, our memories really start at 48, Woodlands Avenue in Rustington, our home until adulthood. There were many happy birthdays, many happy family Christmases here. When we were gathered as a family, Dad liked to rub his hands together and say “Ooo, this is just like Christmas!”. He especially liked to say that at Christmas! We remember his silly sense of humour. He was always in change of covering the Christmas cake in marzipan, once popping up afterwards with marzipan rimmed glasses! We remember the family sitting around watching Les Dawson, Benny Hill, Morecambe and Wise - Dad creased up, in tears from laughing!

Family walks were a regular event on a Sunday, starting at the penny sweet shop to get fuel and continuing on to the seafront. There were speedboat rides around Littlehampton harbour too, and us boys playing badminton with Dad at the Dome.

All of us have fond memories of family holidays, particularly those in the UK. Who could forget driving around Wales in the pouring rain, exploring wind-swept castles, listening to a cassette tape of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark on repeat in the car. Or exploring Dad’s old haunts in Scotland, visiting a distillery, discovering how quickly you can go off salmon if you eat it every night, this time with Fleetwood Mac providing the soundtrack.

More recently we’ve spent many happy days visiting Mum and Dad in France. Dad enjoyed visits from his grandchildren too, even when Holly made him play as a pirate or a mermaid in the swimming pool! He was always generous with his grass-cutting tractor, which was a highlight for kids young and old. Dad enjoyed his red wine, especially when guests gave him an excuse to have a second glass (looking over to see if Mum had noticed)! We enjoyed talking to Dad about shared interests in music, Formula 1, gadgets and computers, and going for long walks with Mum, Dad and the dog.

The last year has been difficult, and it’s tempting to erase that from memory and focus on the happier times before. Yet Dad faced up to his illness with a quiet courage and dignity that should be remembered. He was still in the thick of family life, enjoying visits from us all. There were precious moments, like meeting his twin grandchildren Jonathan and Katie for the first time. There were silly moments: his sense of humour remaining intact even when speech became difficult, and he programmed the speech app on his phone with rude messages that Mum made him delete!

There too have been many acts of kindness over the course of the last year that we will never forget, some small, some large, from old friends and new. Thank you.

We are lucky that for us, it was a normal part of growing up to have parents in love, always kissing, cuddling, holding hands. It is what we want to achieve. Over the last year, that love has never burned brighter.

Dad was patient, kind and always there for us. As children, we took our loving and secure childhood for granted. As we get older and face the joy and challenges of fatherhood ourselves, we have a much better idea of how difficult that can be at times. Dad continues to be an inspiration to us.