LIVE24SEVEN // Motoring, Sport & Entertainment K AT E JUS T I C E – YOUR OLDS


How Do You Get On With Your Olds?


Kate Justice says she is blessed…I have a wonderful relationship with my parents. They are still together and live only a mile away from me. My mum is like a best friend and my very funny dad is the BEST man in a crisis or at times of stress.


When I think about my dad, John Beynon (or Benji - as he has been called for much of his life) I think mostly of laughter… and going to the pub. My dad is the King of telling jokes – I have no idea why he ended up in business when he really should have been a stand-up comic. He can even tell the same jokes over and over and we don’t get bored.


I know when one is coming; he’s heard something in the conversation that’s reminded him of some hilarious ditty… and he starts to grin – just to himself. He might then huff out a small chuckle… just enough so we all know we are about to be entertained. The conversation will slow… heads will turn and all eyes will be on my dad, who will be smiling to himself. He won’t look up – he’ll just start with the joke… and smile and chuckle while he’s telling the story. Sometimes just a few lines, sometimes longer, he will capture everyone’s attention until it’s finished. My friends adore him.


I might not have the exact same comedic ability but I am so like my dad in so many ways! I see it in almost everything I do. How things make me feel, how I react to people and situations. Even what I like to eat… and my love of going to the pub; I am my father’s daughter. Plus I have inherited his large strong hands and skinny white legs.


We don’t have long conversations on the phone – or even when we are on one of our many pub visits – but at every major junction in my life he seems to be there with just the right thing to say or do. I remember the first time I had my heart


broken by a boy. I came home, so upset (thought I’d never get over it at the time but can’t even remember who it was now…) and only my dad was still up. He didn’t say much, but whatever he did say made me better, sorted things out in my head and heart and really, really helped.


One thing that I will never forget was how my dad dealt with things when I was in labour with my firstborn. It was a very difficult and lengthy labour and I had a long period of time with contractions every 90 seconds but not much else. I remember being scared – I was afraid of the pain and that I wouldn’t be able to cope. In the end it was my dad who came into the room, held my hands and helped me focus on my job, get my breathing sorted and deal with what was still to come. I’m not sure many women can say that.


My dad is a huge animal lover, a pedant for correct grammar and punctuation, an enormously funny man whom my friends look forward to seeing as much as they do me… and someone absolutely idolized by his grandchildren.


I could write pages more… but for now I’ll settle for HAPPY FATHER’S DAY BENJI. I love you.


/ 128


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