Dr Jimmy

Not many swear an oath and keep their word
But you held it through a lifetime
And stretched it to a way of life.
Husband, father, son and friend
Your family extended to a community
And we sought refuge in your knowledge
In your vitality and wisdom.
Protected against our fear of suffering
We passed our worries on
And you absorbed them
Putting them in a black bag
Within your soul.

At your happiest in the kitchen
Fore-and-aft upon your head
Juggling six pans and assorted dishes
Leaving chaos in your wake
As the radio reeled and Strathspeyed
In the background.
What a talent telly missed.
Or fishing on Menteith
Better still if one up on John Munro!!
Or sitting in the stand at Easter Road
Memories of Stanton and O’Rourke
Or Eddie Turnbull’s quip to Alan Gordon
"Your problem is that aw yir brains are in yir bloody heed"
Or treating Georgie Best for an ‘allergic reaction to alcohol’.
Or sowing seeds on fertile soil
and watching neat rows of  shoots appear
To mark the start of another year.

You loved the challenge of  a diagnosis
And would treat the person not the illness
Long before it became fashionable.
Medical books and magazines
Would scatter on the floor
As you set about a problem
Like a terrier would a bone.
And in days of greed and envy
Where some work only for reward
You were driven by a duty that few can understand
Needing no more recognition
Than a welcome in the street.

With your hustle-bustle action
And your hair stuck up on end
You brought light to any room
Upon which you might descend
There are words that might describe you
Caring, selfless, teacher, ‘Doc’ and fan
Professional physician or a couthy countryman
But words can never capture
The essence of the man
We knew as Doctor Jimmy
Husband, father, son and friend.

                                               In memory of my father Dr Jimmy Ledingham