Gav

My last remaining grandparent passed away a week ago in Belfast. 94. Way to go. I couldn't make it out to the funeral on Monday I was in Montreal, but my dad just sent through the eulogy. It makes me wonder if the life we lead these days will be as interesting to our grandchildren as Granda Mc's seems to me.

THANKSGIVING FOR THE LIFE OF ALEXANDER (SANDY) MCDERMOTT.
MONDAY 19TH OCTOBER 2008

Sandy was the second son to be born to Willie John and Ellen May. Home was not far from here on the Shankill in Brown Square. The family grew to 7 in total. Sandy was preceded by Cassie, Billy, Rosie and Nellie followed by Joe and May. All have predeceased him. Sandy was educated at Brown Square School. He sat beside the teacher not because he was a bold pupil but because ‘they had run out of books for him’ as he would have said. He had a great brain and a keen mind; his aptitiude for maths stood by him for the rest of his life.

From an early age Sandy learned to look after those around him due to the deaths of both his parents before he reached adulthood. We have an indication of how time has moved on when we hear that as a teenager he did not have a part-time job such as a paper round instead a farmer paid him for taking the pigs and cattle to the mart.

Not many years before he went to war he married Jean. Initially home was in Dundee Street and then they moved to Highfield Drive. They were blessed with two sons, Danny and Sandy. From these two sons came a remarkable family tree. Danny and Margaret in turn had three sons; Ryan and Gavin and Richard. Sandy and Maureen had Sandy, Gary, Joanne, Maureen, Mark and Michael. Not only were there grandchildren there were also great grand children; Finlay; Megan Sandy and Stephen; Gary, Sandy and Shannon; Georgia and Roma; Beth and Ellen; Marcus; Kali, Kiera and Michael. Granda or Poppy as he was known to the great grandchildren was a very important part of these people’s lives and they were so important to him. When I would chat to Sandy he loved to show photos of the family and chat about who was where and doing what in the world.

Sandy served for 6 years in the war and was at Dunkirk. He suffered a shrapnel wound to his leg that would give him bother throughout his life however he was not one to let it get him down.

When he returned from the war his main passion was for horses and especially dogs. Sandy was well known as a bookie and made many contacts and lifelong friends through that work. He also drove a furniture removal van for Morgans and had a night shift job at Parliament Buildings, Stormont. His wife died around 25 years ago and it was really the family and their interests that sustained Sandy along with several good friends. In recent years he had to move from Highfield to Corky house and more recently was in the Ambassador Nursing Home with some time in hospital as well. After suffering a major heart attack on Wednesday it was amazing that he was able to last to Thursday afternoon; a further testament of his stamina and stickability.

Each of us comes here today with either our own very personal memories of Sandy or are here to support a friend who was close to Sandy. I only had the privilege of knowing Sandy for the last four years and wish that I could have known him 25 or 50 years ago. As I have listened to the family and other close friends a number of things strike me about Sandy.

Sandy’s first love was for his family and friends. He himself was from a large family and as we have mentioned there were many grandchildren and great grandchildren. As he loved to be with them so they loved to be with him. Up until her death fairly recently he would have visited his sister May. In latter years when he needed more support and help it was something that was only a privilege for them to give. I believe the love and care that he received from his immediate and extended family and good friends was part of the elixer that kept him going.

Sandy loved the racing. When you went to the house he could tell the background to the different horses and dogs that he had pictures or ornanments of. He was familiar with their pedigree and successes.

Sandy loved fashion. He was always immaculately turned out. He had great coats and suits and an abiding memory of Sandy is to see him in all his finery carrying his walking stick which somehow just added to the look. Indeed aware that he had such dress sense I made sure my shoes were polished this morning.

A man of surprises. I remember one day noticing the keyboard in the house and for whatever reason I just assumed that it belonged to one of the grandchildren or great grandchildren but he explained that it was his. He would not have played in public but enjoyed to tinkle on it in the home. He was also a great man for travel. He would have travelled as far away as the States and Spain and liked nothing more than getting in the car and going up to the North Coast for a few days break.

Going to Springfield Methodist Church was something that was very important to Sandy. His good friend Yorkie and he would come every Sunday, you could almost set your clocks by them and I could take you today to the seat where he sat.

For ourselves here today where do we go to find comfort and encouragement? The Bible has been described as a mirror and a window. A mirror in which we see ourselves clearly. The Bible teaches that there is no-one who is perfect, we have all fallen short of the glory of God, we are all in need of help. It is also a window through which we see God. We see God who wants to reach out and rescue us, a God who loves us with an everlasting love and longs to show us mercy and grace. We see that most vividly in the fact that he is willing to go to the lengths of sending his only son Jesus Christ in to the world.

There are two words that I would like us to remember about Jesus. One is PEDIGREE. For Sandy the pedigree of an animal was very important and in the Bible we see that some people doubted Jesus’ pedigree. They thought he was mad to say the things he said, they even thought he was in cahoots with the devil. Jesus unlike religious teachers or gurus pointed the people to himself, he invited them to follow him, not simply his teaching. CS Lewis born in this city famous for the Narnia tales such as the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe said that Jesus was either a mad man, a bad man or the God man;

"I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to." (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, The MacMillan Company, 1960, pp. 40-41.)
The second word is SUCCESS. There are many suggestions around today as to what makes you a success. Jesus said that the only way to know true success and be part of something that would last forever was to know him. Paul writing to the Ephesians has these memorable lines at the start of his letter:

It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone. (Ephesians 1:11-12 The Message translation)

Christ did not come to spoil our lives, but rather transform our lives. We simply just have to admit our need of Christ to God and trust in him. It does not mean that there will be no hassle or trouble in our lives but it does mean that we are linked to the one whose pedigree is second to none and will know true success in our lives in this life and the next.

Today our thoughts and prayers are very much with the immediate family; with Danny and Sandy, Margaret and Maureen; the grandchildren Ryan and Gavin and Richard. Sandy and Maureen had Sandy, Gary, Joanne, Maureen, Mark and Michael; and their spouses and partners; Hayley, Kirsty Deborah, Mandy, John, Maureen, Mark and Carla; and the great grandchildren Finlay; Megan Sandy and Stephen; Gary, Sandy and Shannon; Georgia and Roma; Beth and Ellen; Marcus; Kali, Kiera and Michael. Our thoughts are also with the very wide family circle and many good friends.

Today we give thanks to God for the life of Sandy McDermott and we give thanks for the exceptional Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Last weekend we took a trip to Edinburgh, where Eliza was playing the MCPS-PRS New Music tent on Festival Sunday.

We stopped on the way at The Crosby Lodge, in Higher Crosby, near the border. We arrived with time to take an afternoon walk in the pretty (and wet) countryside.

The hotel was nice enough, but the restaurant was fantastic. In the morning I had the best full english I've ever had. Here's Eliza at breakfast being an english lady.

Then we were up to Edinburgh, where Eliza played her gig.

Then we had a night out in Edinburgh with my pal Simon and his new girlfriend, Mardi.

[We stayed at the Malmaison in Edinburgh. We won't again. The staff were surly, the TV didn't work (lightning apparently). We opened the CD they leave in the room, only to find the CD player didn't work either. I then had to ask them twice not to charge me for the CD, which we left in the room, and they grudgingly didn't.]