If there is a heaven, then there's one heck of a party going on now that Ray has joined his brothers Jim, Reg, Don, and Ken, and his sister Meg.  It has to be at least 50 years since they were all together in one place, and there is a lot of catching up to do.

No doubt Meg will be in the kitchen, as when growing up, only girls were permitted.  The boys weren't allowed - probably because they would be likely to pitch a fork and have it pin an ear to the door (true story).  Some of the boys made up for being barred later, testing their culinary skills on their own families:  Doug's rice pudding made with shredded coconut he mistook for rice was novel, and Italian seasoning to flavour a fruit cake has yet to make it into the recipe books.  Ray will no doubt be doing his stint at the barbeque, and, with his skills as a butcher, Jim is likely be called up for carving the joint, He can also prepare a mean breakfast for the morning after, just with a camping stove, after years of belonging to a motoring club that saw him and Doreen heading for the wide open spaces each weekend.

Reg is in charge of live music, and has his drums and violin at the ready, and is likely be joined by his son Jim on the clarinet.  He might roll up to the party on his tandem, after all, he and Eileen spent their honeymoon touring on it.

Don and Ken are always ready to tell a good story, with Don's tales of life in the Navy, and Ken's escapades driving Land Rovers around Europe, there's never a dull moment.  Hopefully, Don has forgiven his elder siblings for leaving the brake off his pushchair and allowing it to roll down hill with himn inside and ending up in the pond at the bottom. Ken is unlikely to get away without a ribbing about his tank-driving skills at some point in the proceedings!

The newest recruit to this party in heaven will make a bee-line for the sound-system, and he and Doug will be oblivious to all the cacophany around them as they listen to, and heatedly debate the merits of Sinatra, Cole, Martin, and all those big bands that they both love so much.  June and Betty will just roll their eyes and leave them to it, after all, they've been listening to those same arguments for more years than they care to remember.  The outcome of the discussions is never in doubt, and Old Blue Eyes tops the charts every time.

As we leave the family to their party, we treasure the memories we have of each and every one of the participants, and raise our glasses to the Meikle clan, and yes, they will all be wearing the clan sweater as knitted by their mother Isabella, and proudly modelled by Ray in the photograph.