Dad couldn’t walk past a broken appliance without trying to repair it. Once he spent half of Christmas Day fixing Mrs. Higgins’ washing machine while everyone was waiting for dinner.

Thirty years at the bench and I never once heard him raise his voice. Whenever an apprentice broke a delicate clock spring, Bob would pour a fresh cup of tea and call it learning.

He spent three months carving a miniature wooden chess set for my tenth birthday. I still keep the King in my desk drawer at university.