Saying thank you

In the beginning very little gratitude

Who gets to choose their parents after all?

But gradually you realise what you’ve been given

And in time you understand the debt you owe

So,

For bathing me in music; Bach, Stravinsky and Coltrane

and placing me in chamber groups with Mozart, Gounod and Damase

For giving me that tiny clarinet and showing how it sings

and picking me for your orchestral team of two

For introducing me to our well tempered Broadwood

and giving me a lifelong friend

For all the concerts, galleries and books

and helping me to look at things and judge them

For all those pesky questions and digging for the truth

and never being satisfied with unconvincing answers

For your constant interest in others

and respect for what they do

For having many passions, solitary and social

and pursuing them with truly scientific joy

For scepticism, horror films and ginger

and Berkeley, Barnes and Bayswater – and Wetherby of course

For looking to the granite island for your match

and getting that most vital thing so right

For writing your clear story and letting me write mine

For all of this and so much else

It seems like a good moment

To say thank you.

April 2012 on the occasion of John Playfair’s 81st birthday

John Playfair obituary