Well, Ben Nevis may not be doable but we will be knocking some of the other stuff off Kendall's list. We're trying to get a tank driving session set up, go see Hadrian's Wall, visit the hotel in Alnwick which has the dining room fashioned after the one on the Titanic and, if it can be arranged, do a day trip to France so that he can see the White Cliffs of Dover. We'' hopefully also hit some folk clubs in the UK while we're there and, if given the chance, will do some of the stuff that we've worked out between us.

The thing that really breaks my heart is that smoking killed Kendall's voice. I have never heard him sing, except on recordings. What I admire is the fact that he has never given up, in spite of all the surgeries and setbacks. He just keeps on keeping on and that shows real courage. Even now, with the breathing problems, he is still a pretty fit 77 year old, cursing that he finds it more difficult to get up from the crawler when he's been working under the antique car.

Spaw - your post was wonderful and I agree with what you say. However, none of us know when our number will be up - accidents and unforeseen physical problems could carry any of us off at any time. I think the only thing to do is to live in the moment as much as possible and to let those we care for know how we feel.

On a side note - I started smoking at 14 - Park Drive cigarettes that you could buy in packets of five. I smoked until December 31 1982 when I finally gave up, with withdrawal symptoms that were so severe that I never wanted to go through that again. I think that Will and Alan are right about the addictive gene - my father was a 'respectable' alcoholic and smoker, in spite of chronic bronchitis and ulcers and die in his early sixties as a result of that abuse of his system. I had tried a few times to give up but ended up smoking about a pack and a half a day. Our doctor at the time told my ex that he should stop smoking as he had signs of hereditary heart disease. I reckoned that it would be unfair for him to stop while I was still smoking so we gave up together. (The irony was that he died of stomach cancer about three years ago). I'm still waiting to see if twenty years of smoking are going to come back and bite me on the ass, but I've not really got anything on a bucket list, except to see my grandchildren grow up and to be a royal pain in the ass to my kids when I'm in my nineties!