I am going to try and create a character without a back story, who is a composite of people I know.
Great Grandad Kenneth, Grandy to all the family since Adam renamed him, is a striking man.
He's over six feet tall and as upright as Nelson's column, which is surprising as he's over ninety.
He claims never to have had a days illness in his life, as long as you don't count the various hospital admissions he's had for injuries down the years. Of these the very first was the worst.
He had come unscathed through World War Two, it was nearly over by the time he was conscripted. He enjoyed the army life and decided to stay on when the war ended. He'd always been an enthusiastic sportsman and the army soon had him in one of their swimming teams. It was on the way back from a competition that the accident happened. He was in Germany. There was devastation everywhere, the roads were terrible. The jeep in which he and a fellow soldier were traveling back to barracks had to mount a bank to avoid a huge pothole and it simply toppled over on to its side. Kenneth fell out into the road and cracked his skull but worse was to follow as the petrol tank leaked and somehow caught fire. His mate struggled out of the jeep and managed to get to Kenneth pretty quickly but not before the right side of his head and his right arm had received severe burns. Months of plastic surgery followed in East Grinstead. But no, Kenneth was never ill.
The fiery red new skin eventually calmed down to a more or less normal colour but his right cheek looked a little like a patchwork quilt. Tired of hospitals he turned down the offer of a new ear so only had a lobe. In the early days he'd grown his hair in a comb-over to hide his scars but as the years went by it irritated him so he went back to a short back and sides, always joking with the barber that it should be cheaper as he only had one side in need of attention.
The scars are not the first thing you notice about him now. His military bearing and the still twinkling blue eyes above a broad smile mark him out from the crowd. Whether it was the accident or his natural inclination but Kenneth loves life and lived his to the full. He had married Isobel, ten years his junior, who had been his girlfriend at the time of the accident. She had stuck by him even though he told her she didn't have to. They had four children, two of each. One by one they had found partners and now there were six grandchildren and one great granddaughter. Kenneth felt blessed and gave thanks every Sunday at his local church.
Kenneth wouldn't say he is community minded but he does like to be involved and his friends and neighbours know he can be relied on to help where he can. These days, although still a great walker, his physical capabilities have diminished but he manages the funds for the Wednesday Club and uses his old electric typewriter to create notices and leaflets. He's probably the only person in Lancashire who still has a supply of carbon paper and uses it. Truth to tell Kenneth is a bit of a gossip and he needs to be part of the village scene.
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