JDA Magazine Paperturn Sept 2024 - Flipbook - Page 27
KENNETH SILVER, MY FRIEND
Brinthan tells us how his client
became his friend
For a few years, I visited Kenneth Silver regularly
on Thursdays. Technically he was my client, but he
became my friend.
Kenneth could see before, but then his sight
deteriorated and he became blind. I really enjoyed
supporting him and taking him out so he had a bit
of independence.
We would walk to a café across the road from
his 昀氀at, have freshly made sandwiches and talk.
Kenneth could talk all day long! The café owner
liked Kenneth as he was very polite and always
praised the food.
Kenneth could speak very well and he liked to
talk to everyone, even strangers! He had a big
beaming smile which brightened your day.
The 昀椀rst time I met him, he tasked me with a
big mission — to help him look at new cars!
So we went to a BMW showroom in En昀椀eld.
I showed him each car and described what they
looked like whether it was two-seater or estate
car, or leather seating or the colour of the car.
Kenneth was very fussy!
Sometimes he would ask me to take him to a
particular shop to check out items he needed to
buy, such as belts. But we would go through 50
belts and he would still not quite 昀椀nd what he
wanted, declining to purchase!
We went to the RNIB (Royal National Institute for
the Blind) in Kings Cross to get a new watch, so that
he could feel the time. We travelled by tube from
his home in Oakwood straight to Kings Cross.
We walked to RNIB, discussed, got the watch,
then went to nearby O’Neill’s pub for 昀椀sh and
chips lunch and a pint of beer each! That was
a good day.
▲ Kenneth and Brinthan buying shirts
together at Brent Cross!
Once I took him to the cemetery as he wanted to
see his parents’ grave, and he told me about them.
Kenneth would often ask me how is my wife and
my boy. He bought my son a small present which
was a kiddie drawing pad.
Kenneth was very handy, even when he became
blind in his old age. When I visited him at home,
he would often take me into the small room
I called the Kenneth Cave (with smells of his pipe
smoking!) to show me his latest projects, 昀椀xing
things. As he couldn’t see fully, sometimes
I helped him by pointing out where things were
but he 昀椀xed the items himself.
Kenneth was a determined man with a wealth
of stories to tell. I loved his tales about his work
in business, his family, how he helped JDA in the
earlier years, his life in Brighton and Hove, and of
course his love for Tottenham Hotspur.
Now my Thursdays are di昀昀erent. He was a good
man and I miss him already.
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