Till We meet again...We love you Dad....

We have come to the end of and era.... This beautiful man i call my dad finally left this world for a far better place at midnight on Tuesday 6th September 2011 ...at the age of 84....   I spent the whole  day with him as we knew he was gravely ill.... he slipped peacefully away with me holding his hand and him knowing that he was not alone on the journey from  this  life to the other side.....

 We had time to share some wonderful moments as Father and daughter...moments i will treasure for the rest of my life....moments we  had not been able to share in our very dysfunctional  and estranged life...it was only in the last three years really that we became close so we had a lot of catching up to do ... this estrangement was not our choice but we managed to make up for all the time lost...I even managed to record his life story which i will edit and print for the two families Dad has...Because we all love him so much that love brought us all together near the end and he was so happy for that. Two families once separated and isolated from each other are now united with the promise of staying in touch with each other...

Dad leaves behind 6 children ...three boys and three girls and 19 grand and great grand children...who all love and adore him...

His legacy will continue on in us all until we can all be with him again....

Here are just some photographic memories i have of my DAD...

This first one was last Christmas Day having lunch at our little rental...he played the piano accordion so well and gave us a marvellous concert ..he told me if he couldn't sing for his lunch he could at least play....

Peach Picking in February at an orchard down by the Batman Bridge... at Rowella   ..... we took dad out for the ride but he insisted that he could pick the peaches on the lower branches and he did....he took the box he picked  back to share with the carers at the Nursing Home. Always thinking of others before himself....

His sister Ruby made a surprise visit for a few days  early this year ....it was wonderful to see them together after all this time..he had not seen her for many years...(they grew up not really knowing each other ..Auntie Ruby and Auntie Mary both in the girls home and Dad in the boys home ..never seeing each other or even knowing how each other was) it was a reunion of joy and much love...and indeed very timely.

 all are together...Auntie Ruby, Dad, my sister Julie and me....

Just a couple of months ago ...I asked dad if he would like to escape for the day and go to the movies...I read the movies that were showing at the cinema out of the newspaper for him to choose...he asked me what 3D meant...of course we had to go...he had never experience 3D before ..Kung Foo Panda was our choice...He love every minute of it ..there were only 5 other people in the theatre...after all it was a weekday afternoon!!!!!

Dad used to work for the railway as a station master(one of his many careers) in his early years when i was just a little girl... so a trip to the Museum at the Railway at Invermay was a definite ...he loved it so much we went back the second time.... shame we didn't make it the third time ...we still had so much to see...i loved his stories of his experiences on the railway as we wandered around and things jogged his memory...old photos of the coal fired buses he used to maintain for Mr Hinds at Beaconsfield....that was his first job when he left the Northern Boys Home where he had lived from the age of 8 years till he was 16...a very sad time in his life one which made him a true survivor of abuse in Government care..( I, for one, am glad that institutions have been done away with)...I know that it affected him.... he never let it show though...he always wore a happy smile on his face, always ready with a joke or quip to make you laugh.....He loved people ..a real social butterfly was my DAD...

Just look at that cheeky smile and that adorable face...he went with us to pick blackberries at the Longford berry farm.... they were the thorn less variety so although he couldn't pick many ..i gave him a couple to gobble while he waited....

(don't you love the glasses in the " Flanny" shirt pocket...that was my DAD)

Another first for him..Salamanca Markets in November...  he had never been before and to think it was just two hours south away.......it was a glorious day and we forgot his hat.... i took him to a hat stall to buy one...NO he didn't buy this one ...but he wanted to try it on for the laugh....

He adored seafood...Curried scallops were on the menu this day ...he ate almost all of them... "you don't get these at the nursing home" he was heard to say....

MY DAD the thinker... ( with the hat we did buy at Salamanca)..He loved fishing and Julie and Graham took him to the wharf at Beauty Point a couple of times...he never caught anything to bring home but he always enjoyed the "escape" from the nursing home... even though they adored him there and were so wonderful to him..coming to his little apartment room to say goodnight before they left to go home after their shift...this happened everyday..not just occasionally.......

What did Dad in was the fact that  he had to let go of his Independence ...This was a huge thing for dad to come to terms with..don't know if he ever really did.?????

November 21st...a trip to Hobart...Dad's is holding his great grandson..   Arliss Henry Daniel who is 4 days old... there are 4 generations in this photo.... He was so proud of his great grandson....insisted that his photo be up on his wall were he could see him....

I don't think he wanted to give him back to his granddaughter Sarah....

And this is the photo we used on his order of service for his funeral which was held on Friday the 9th September 2011....All his beloved family that could be there were there.....My brother Ian and his family flying in from the mainland as soon as they could be here....

wonderful floral tributes arriving form all over Australia...

Chelsea read this little poem out about her Poppy.

The measure of a Man

Not how did he die? But how did he live?

Not what did he gain? but what did he give?

These are the units of a man, as a man.

To measure his worth regardless of birth.

Not what was his station? But had he a heart?

And how did he play his God given Part?

Was he ever ready with a word of good cheer?

To bring back  a  smile, to banish a tear.

Not what was his church? nor what was his creed?

But had he defended those truly in need?

Not what did the sketch in the newspaper say?

But how many were sorry when he passed away?

My Dad answered all the thought provoking questions  in that little bit of  prose  with a resounding positive  ....         YES........ many   friends  and family were there to pay their respects and show his family love, to talk about the many acts of kindness,  good  deeds  and  willing tireless act of service he had performed for them and many others... all the wooden toys he made by hand for charity...

He never  sought fame of fortune  or even recognition for what he did.... he loved to cook and was always taking someone something he had baked....   he was to best example of   forgiving of those who did him wrong that i could ever hope to emulate.....

Has his mansion been prepared for him...

If you are asking me ...the answer would have to be ....sadly...my loss...Heavens gain...

LOVE YA DAD....