Terry, my big brother and a self-designated father-figure always looking out for my safety and well-being.
Most weekends, you drove 12 miles from Kibworth to pick me up early Saturday morning to stay with you and Rita.
You treated me like the son you never had, taking me everywhere with you, showing me places that I would never have gotten to see and introducing me to the game of Rugby at the Aylestone St. James ground up Covert Lane, where you played in their first team.
When I turned 14, you invited me to caddy for you at Kibworth Golf Course where I quickly got to understand the rules and enjoy the camaraderie between the players. I always looked forward to finishing the 9th hole and enjoying a bacon and a sausage sandwich with you, then after the 18th hole, a pint of bitter shandy.
When I finished Grammar school, you pulled strings to get me started with a career in Mechanical Engineering, setting me up with an apprenticeship that included attending DeMontfort University to study. After completing that apprenticeship and college, we worked together for 2 years in the office you had built above your garage at your Kibworth home, and during times that weren't so busy, we'd work on landscaping your front and rear gardens. Great memories that feel like they were only yesterday.
Without your intervention and guidance from my early days, I have no idea where I would have ended up. But that intervention enabled me to develop a successful career, one that further developed here in the USA and one that afforded me the opportunity to retire at 55 years of age, and for all that you did for me, I will be eternally grateful.
You always dreamed of coming to the USA, but every time that I tried to get you here, it sadly never happened.
"It isn't what we leave behind, it's what we leave in people's hearts that count."
Miss you, big bro.
Martin xxxx
Martin
05/02/2026
