Things that cheer you up

[Carbomb]

tomatoatse

[Frankie Crisp]

This might come across as I’ve really, really got the wrong thread, but bear with me.

My Dad died at the start of the year and it’s been shit. Very shit. It was a horrible, awful accident and I may bore the arse off you lot in another thread at some point as writing has been helping me. I really miss him and I’m struggling with getting my head around it.

Anyway, my old man was my best mate. That’s not post-passing hyperbole, we were genuinely best mates. Did everything together - pints, holidays, gigs and life in general.

One of our very favourite places was a boozer in New York - The Red Lion. We loved it. Great live music, boss staff, solid ale and just the kind of place he loved to drink in. We met in there once after I’d gone backpacking and I turned up skint, looking homeless and gasping for a beer. We sat in there for hours, and while I regaled him of my travels from the previous few months, he just sat there with a massive grin on his face, made up to see his lad after so long.

We subsequently went to New York a few more times, one of which was for his 70th birthday back in 2019. It was a great trip, made more special because one of my best mates moved over here not long before and we got to meet up. My old man LOVED the lad. He was like a mentor to him and was so happy to see him go from a scallywag who didn’t know what day it was to a father and husband over in New York, fulfilling his dream to be a teacher over here. We grabbed a pint in the Red Lion a couple of hours after landing for that holiday.

So last week, I flew over for that mate’s 40th birthday. We’ve had a scream - stayed in a remote cabin in Maine, went fishing, took in the sights, went to Salem, and basically caught up properly for the first time in years. My Dad was meant to join me, but it wasn’t to be.

As I was planning the trip, I did so making it possible to have a few days in Manhattan on my own as I thought it would be cathartic to just wander around and take in all the places me and Dad used to go to. I also threw a Hail Mary to the Red Lion to see if there was anything we could do as a nod towards my Dad, given how much he loved that place and because of the incredible times we had in there over the last few decades.

They didn’t blink when I put a request in, so if you’re ever in New York and fancy a pint in Greenwich Village, pop by to the Red Lion and grab a seat in Jackie’s Corner.

Currently sat in here listening to The Ghost of Tom Joad - a song that epitomised my old man - smiling, knowing we’ve got him a little part of New York that’ll be his for a long time.

He’d be made up and this has helped me a lot.

[CTXRussomark]

That's genuinely one of the best posts I've ever read on here Frankie. Beautifully written and an amazing tribute to your old man.

[HarmonicGenerator]

That’s wonderful Frankie. Makes me want to go back to New York just to go there.

[deathrey]

I'm so sorry to hear about your dad @Frankie Crisp. That is such a lovely tribute to him and a treat to read on a Saturday morning

[wandshogun09]

Yeah lovely that is. Sorry for your loss, it was obvious from your posts on here over the years that you were as close as it gets. That’s a beautiful tribute though. 

[Chest Rockwell]

Lovely post Frankie, so sorry for your loss. I thought of you just yesterday as it happens, when I posted that thing about Samuel Pepys shitting in the chimney as I though "guess they didn't have quality street tins back then"...

[Thunderplex]

Really sorry to hear that buddy.  Cracking tribute.

[Frankie Crisp]

Nice one for the comments, very much appreciate them. I frustratingly lost access to here a few months ago and would have benefited from writing about Dad with an element of anonymity, but a few of you from here were great support via other channels and I also really do appreciate that.

Dad never knew about the Quality Street tin, thankfully, otherwise he’d have already haunted me dressed as a Toffee Penny.

Oh and we got him a stone at Everton’s new ground as well, which he would love.

[RedTwoster]

On 10/11/2025 at 7:03 AM, CTXRussomark said:

That's genuinely one of the best posts I've ever read on here Frankie. Beautifully written and an amazing tribute to your old man.

My thoughts exactly. It made me tear up. Absolutely beautiful. I’m so sorry for your loss, @Frankie Crisp. That post was incredibly touching.

[johnnyboy]

Sorry for your loss Frankie, that was a lovely tribute.

[Bus Surfer]

What a touching post. I'm really sorry to hear, Frankie. 

[tiger_rick]

Goosebumps. Immense read that. 

[BomberPat]

that's wonderful, Frankie, and I'm sorry for your loss.

I've lost a few mates over the last few years, one in an accident alongside his young son that meant it got a lot of coverage in local news and made reminders of it really difficult to avoid. I was at Jersey Zoo a few months back, and there's a little plaque to him and his kid, and it's surprising how much peace and happiness it brought me to just be able to sit and take that in, that enough people cared to make that happen. Another old mate, who I've spoken about on here before, died a few years ago now - both of these blokes were older than me, and looked out for me at times in my life when I could have gone completely off the rails, saw something in me that I didn't see in myself, and this guy was a big drinker in Soho, full of stories from the glory days of debauchery there and drinking with the great and the good. When I started coming to London for gigs and shows, I'd always try and meet up with him for a pint, and I really came to appreciate how he never treated me as a tourist in his world, or tried to show any of it off to me, I was just a part of it and welcome from the first time. There's a photo of him behind the bar now in the French House, the pub we most often drank in, and while I'm hardly ever out drinking round there any more, there have been a few times when I've been wandering around at a loose end and felt like I just needed a bit of guidance or solace or whatever it might be, and found a kind of peace in just being able to sit there by his photo. He died before I was able to move to London myself, or before I was able to really start to make something of myself at all, and his picture still being there feels like a connection, a way I can let him know that it all turned out alright in the end.

[Arch Stanton]

2 hours ago, tiger_rick said:

Goosebumps. Immense read that. 

I think you're a bit big for them now, but fair play if they still cheer you up. Which one's your favourite? I always loved Night of the Living Dummy.