While many of you may already know this, I needed to write this update for myself and to inform those of you that may not know. For legal reasons, I cannot (and will not) go into any details of the event, so please don't
Neil was born on December 2nd 1985, the third child and baby boy to my parents. Growing up as the youngest boy, it would be expected that he would follow in his big brothers' footsteps and mirror their path through life. This is not how Neil rolled. Not one bit. It was obvious from a very young age that Neil was incredibly creative and artistic, and gravitated towards those aspects of life with great passion, and in some cases borderline obsession. His music teacher at school would go on to explain that Neil was one of the most musically-gifted children they'd ever had the pleasure to teach. They were right.
When I look back over our childhood, I remember vividly Neil's interests. Thomas the Tank Engine was the first. Then Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles (Sorry American friends, it was Hero Turtles in the UK) - Donatello was Neil's turtle of choice. These interests would remain and shape Neil throughout his entire life. To his final day turtles were his favorite animal, and we found saved sketches of Thomas the Tank Engine among his things. Neil was a creature of habit, and we all loved him for that. In his adult life, Neil taught himself artistic expression through pencil and paint, taught himself musical expression through several instruments, and learned social expression through creating himself a character that he could become - most of his friends in London knew him only as "Bingo".
In the last few years, Neil made the decision to move to London and live on a converted lifeboat. While this might not sound like the best plan for the majority of us, it suited Neil to the ground and gave him the freedom he had yearned for. There are too many pictures to share right now that have been sent to us from Neil's friends, and in every picture in or around his boat, he is beaming from ear-to-ear. He loved his new life and his new found freedom. He had discovered himself and who he wanted to be. What is strange about this new life is that we, as his family, knew very little about it. He had decided that he wanted to go it alone, finding his place in the world and not following in anyone else's footsteps. Knowing Neil for his entire life, I could not have been more proud of this bravery and dedication to self-discovery. He knew what he wanted and went for it. The only thing we feared is that he was alone in the world and that he didn't have any support... we could not have been more wrong.
Since that fateful night three weeks ago, we have slowly been discovering his new life through his friends and through his possessions. It turns out he had a massive circle of friends in his community, more than any of us could possibly have imagined. Artists, musicians and music-lovers, model enthusiasts, and even costume designers and football teams. Neil had spread his influence far and wide in the Nation's capital and was living a full life of creative genius that so many people were benefitting from. I can honestly say that this has warmed our hearts as a family, knowing that while we believed he was alone he had been surrounded by people that loved him as we did, and that he had made a positive impact on.
And I'm sure we've not heard even the last of the great things that he did. Stories about Neil (or often Bingo) will be told in the music festival community for years to come.
And so to today, and the reason I decided to make this post. October 14th 2023 marks the beginning of the last stretch of his Earthly journey, his remains making their way back to England and to his family so that he can be laid to rest. While the end of anyone's journey is painful to handle, I hope that we can all take solace in that Neil had found himself, and found a way to positively impact everyone around him. To his final day he was doing what he loved to do. He will be very sorely missed, not just by his loving family and friends, but also by his adoring communities.
We will always love you, Neil. You will be so very, very missed by everyone. You are my baby brother, my gaming buddy, my miniature-painting pal, and my creative genius friend. Even though we didn't see much of each other over the past few years, I will miss you more than you will ever know. The world is a darker and sadder place for you not being a part of it anymore.
John
