DAD

Dad, to the world he was not extraordinary or larger than life, however, he was a man with a steadfast belief in love, family, faith, working hard and having a yarn. All fairly straightforward beliefs for a man born in the early thirties. His faith was driven by a very Catholic grandmother, though he was not a card carrying catholic he knelt beside his bed every night and prayed, even if he was the worse for wear after a few quiet drinks. He did this until cancer took his ability to kneel away only days before his death. His death, which come around a lot faster than any of us expected, Tuesday the 4th of December 2007 after a couple of scares we found out that dad had cancer. Doctors were not too sure what his prognosis might be. He had received his results after a prostate operation, it seemed that this time the cancer was strong if contained in the prostate he might have 5 years if it had moved to his bones he might have 1-2 years. After this revelation he had more tests which revealed cancer in his hips, thigh and lower back no one could say how long he had. He had been telling us for years that he could cark it at any time, saying things like “you won’t be saying that when I’m not here or did you see in the paper about the bloke who fell off his perch on his birthday”, my dad the cheery sole.

After a few days in hospital he was home again, worrying about mum and what she might need. He had spent fifty years worrying about Mum, why should it stop just because he had cancer!

Dad grew up a country boy through and through, riding a horse to school, milking cows, catching marron in the dam, the kind of childhood dreams are made of. He saw his father die after his return from the war a relatively young man leaving a wife and eight children. This is when the idyllic childhood ended and working life began.  Dad worked hard on local farms planting and digging spuds, tending stock and doing general farm work. He actually worked hard all his life, farming, truck driving, forestry where he moved from a general hand to overseer and onto a management position, giving him the ability to raise his family in a comfortable and secure environment unlike his own. He was proud of his children and later on grandchildren, unfortunately he was not blessed with those grandchildren until later in life, so they were still young when he passed away. They have since grown into young adults with bright futures which would have made him even more proud. As children they all followed him around the garden listening to his stories, laughing and sometimes crying at his relentless teasing, always delighting them as only a Pop could. To have his grandchildren say I learnt that from my Pop made him so proud. What more could a man ask for, a good life with a family who loved him.

That’s how he went with a family that loved him and on his own terms, he was ready, he knew he was leaving us to support each other as we ventured into life without him. We have amazing memories to pass on to our children and grandchildren of the man who made us all possible.