Getting shirtings

We were at a funeral last Sat: the penultimate survivor of the previous generation. I feel myself getting hustled penguin-like to the edge of the ice-flow and the leopard-seal of death in the cold cold waters below. I try to brush up nicely for weddings and funerals and someone complemented me on the jacket. Dau.I overheard and noted that, at a previous family gathering, my mother had expressed amazement to have born and bred two such different sons: "Take your Uncle J., when he runs out shirts because he's too busy to get to the laundry, he drops by Marks&Sparks and buys six more shirts. Your father on the other hand, robbed all your grandfather's shirts when he died, and I don't think he'd bought another shirt since"It's true that I looted about 2 dozen of my father's office shirts after the funeral; and a very serviceable dark woollen overcoat - ideal for sleety Winter funerals; and a handful of dark 'service' ties - Royal Engineers, HMS Dolphin Torpedo School. The shirts presented…