To many people, Alan Nowell was a businessman, a boss, a stubborn, perhaps sometimes scary, serious man. But to me, Em, and Eloise, Addison and Mattis, Alan Nowell was our Gangi. A man who made it his mission to make us laugh. Possibly the silliest man I’ve ever met. From as early as I can remember he was telling us crazy stories, engaging our imagination and getting us to believe in the impossible.

As you all know, not only was Alan Nowell our Gangi, he was also a weetabix, or weetabidix. He spent some time living as a weetabix, and he did enjoy it very much, until his mother accidentally put him in a bowl and poured some milk over him, ready to eat for breakfast. Luckily, she soon noticed her mistake, and hung him up on the clothes line to dry. Alan Nowell also spent some time as an Owl, and would speak fondly of his years in the trees, watching over everyone. These were the stories Gangi would tell us, and the five of us would listen in awe, believing every second. 

For all of us to have such present, loving grandparents was such a blessing. Me and Emily have always found comfort in the fact that we have always had such a close relationship with our grandparents, somewhere to escape to when Mum and Dad were being too strict. I remember always looking forward to seeing Nan and Gangi because Mum only let me eat cornflakes and rice crispies, but at Nan and Gangi’s we could have Frosties and coco pops. 

I can only imagine how much effort it took Gangi to sit through hours of mine and Emily’s improvised dances and shows we would do in the garden and the living room, showing him our ballet and tap and singing. No matter what or when, he would always be sitting in the audience of our shows, ready to tell us how proud he is of us, or to tell us about how we got all of our talent from him. 

Gangi will be missed by all of us, but whether we like it or not, we all have a piece of him in us. Next time you tell a bad joke, or travel to a different country, or print something out, remember Gangi and know he would be proud.