When we think of Uncle Paul, three clear things always come to mind:

An epic moustache to rival Tom Selleck, which some assumed he must have been born with; his beautiful bond with his lovely dogs; and his unwavering love for the boys in white and blue. He even got his own lucky charm in Ruby, after he got to see her be the Tractor Boys' match mascot and so of course aided their glorious win that day.

Food was another big passion of Uncle Paul's. He was renowned for his fantastic chilli at Grandma's annual barbeque. With a full garden of friends and family, we can still picture him standing over the barbeque, cider in hand, cooking fantastic food, while chatting and laughing with everyone. And of course, his love of Polish kabanos was no secret. Especially after Joe and Anna bought some for our Dad to try, but he never got a chance because Uncle Paul managed to eat it all on his visit the next day!

Our Uncle was always incredibly supportive and proud of us. He was Ania's one-man marketing team for her cake business and there can't possibly be anyone left in Suffolk who hasn't been told about or shown pictures of her cakes.

He had a great way of making you feel like everything you did was really impressive, and that your passions were interesting and worthwhile.

For us, Uncle Paul was also often a man full of surprises. Always friendly, jovial and unassuming, he was great to be with but sometimes you’d also get little glimpses into his dirty sense of humour or the many different, interesting experiences and
jobs he had had.

Because he never needed to be centre of attention and had no need to have a room's
eyes on him, it really was your privilege if you took the time to talk with him, and you'd soon realise he'd led a colourful life and was very funny. The best thing about having those chats were that his stories were never boastful. He wasn't totting up points, nor was he embarrassed. He was just humble, happy to share and equally delighted to hear about you. He put you at ease, made you laugh, taught you things and wanted to learn himself.

Life was never dull with Uncle Paul around. I think that's why one of our last great memories of him is so fitting. It was after Mum and Dad's 60th birthday party. He was in the taxi going back to theirs with Ruby, Joe, Ania, Anna and Dan, with me and my parents in a second taxi not too far behind. As they got to the house first, the 'youngsters' drunkenly decided to hide from us, ready to jump out when we arrived. This quickly escalated from just hiding behind the car on the driveway to climbing over the back fence and hiding in the garden, so that they could to bang on a window and scare us! As the supposed 'responsible adult' of the group you might have assumed Uncle Paul would reign them in, but no! In fact, it was actually his suggestion to hide in the garden! They all stood there, giggling like naughty children, and finding it even more hilarious it took us several minutes to even notice them all stood creepily at the garden window! There were always plenty of laughs to be had when spending time with Uncle Paul.

But that was him all over. He was never motivated by material things or status, he was more interested in people and experiences. And as such, he ended up surrounded by so many friends and family who adored him. From his postie workmates to the guys in the fish and chip shop, everyone knew him and loved chatting with him. He was the life and soul without ever needing the limelight. He'd always put a smile on your face whenever you saw him, and it’s a really sad thing that we won’t be able to chat and laugh with him anymore.

But we will always remember him for the kind, funny, supportive, interesting Uncle that he was.