Dancing under Discoballs
James ♥️
Saturday mornings in London didn’t feel the same, there wasn’t three kids, Radio 6 and pancakes.
My post show, late-night returns were no longer met with profound conversations in the middle of the kitchen with just the oven light on. Instead, it was long WhatsApp messages and maybe a video or two, but they couldn’t be replaced.
Since the night of your 40th where we danced round disco balls in the trees, I’ve never passed one without thinking of you. From that to dancing in the kitchen with the kids and nearly weekly house discos. Finally experiencing your music life in eARTh Hackney on a then inconsequential Friday night.
Life always felt more simple, quiet and peaceful in your presence. Evenings spent slowly pottering round downstairs while Kate & I wait, appearing with a new cocktail creation. Finding new things to watch, explore, discover. Playing games that didn’t make our brain hurt. Swapping songs, artists and cultural references.
We built things together too. We’d spend hours creating a brighter, creative future, dreaming of what could be. One project we completed with a team. The others will hang in the air maybe never to be seen.
You and Kate built a home, a space that made me feel safe and seen. You believed in me so strongly, you knew where I needed to be. You made me a part of a family that will forever be special to me. And you encompassed my bingo card words of creativity, community and family.
I have millions of memories, some so tiny and others so big. I don’t really know how we do this next bit. When I’ll never come in that door again to your hug and you listening to Radio 6. To sitting around a table, eating, laughing and giving you updates on boys, theatre and London living. No videos of you desperately trying to tell me something over the sound of the kids.
How do we do this next bit? Well each day will be different but something I’ve thought about a lot of late is how you’d find beauty everywhere, in everyone and you wouldn’t waste a moment sharing it. So whatever comes next, however we try to face it, I’ll know to look for the beauty and there I might see a bit of you too.
