Jack Ryan passed away peacefully this afternoon (Saturday 22 October). Goodbye dad!

It’s been an interesting few weeks, to say the very least. The day after we arrived back from holiday (2nd October), my brother phoned to say that our dad was seriously ill and that Elly and I should come south as soon as possible. We got there that evening, to learn that he is terminally ill. The following Friday he was admitted to hospital, then discharged after a few days into a nursing home. I’ve written – and will continue to write – about this on Facebook.

Elly had to come back to Scotland about a week after we arrived, while I got back here on Wednesday 19th October. I’d done all I could to ensure that dad is comfortable, and to try to ensure that the rest of the family are as OK as can be under the circumstances. I need to record here how excellent the rest of the family, including Elly, have been.

I spent Thursday catching up on personal admin, then spent Friday at Napier preparing for the project I’d been due to start on 10th October. I’ll write about this in my research blog, while my senior colleagues and I will put weekly updates on our Community, Knowledge, Connections blog. Just now I’m catching up on personal administrivia while awaiting news from Worcester. All of my own blogs auto-tweet links, so you could follow me on Twitter.