With “Father’s Day” fast approaching I think of my Dad a man
I thought the world of. My Dad as far as
I can remember is someone dependable and someone I could trust. I loved listening to him when he used to call
me every Sunday morning at 07h30. Well
as you know life has a strange way of dealing with all of us. My Dad passed away 31 March 2008 at
12h00. My sister was the first to hear
of his passing and then she called me and told me. We all drove down for the funeral which was
in Port Elizabeth. It is an 11 hour
drive from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth and my mom and her husband also came
along with us. My daughter and her
husband and my two sons drove down to support us in our time of grief.
As for remembering my Dad, I think that my Dad was a hardworking
man; his hobby was his birds and his gardens.
I know he loved to read “Readers Digest” and bought that magazine religiously. I also know my Dad kept a diary and wrote in
it all the time. He also sold puppy for
a friend of his that lived on a Farm in the Eastern Cape.
My brother left South Africa and immigrated to Canada and
just before my Dad passed away he relocated to Australia. We tried to phone him and could not get hold
of him; he was having family problems at the time. Something happened there I do not wish to
talk about but the fact remained that people stop us from getting hold of him
on time to let him know. The sad part is
that he finally got the news from the same people who kept it from him the day
we had the memorial service for my Dad.
I also felt hurt that he thought we would be so mean as not to try and
get hold of him but it was a sad time and I suppose he felt let down by
us. So sadly we lost our brother too
because I think he blames us for not letting him know the sad truth. Well, to cap it off we don’t talk much to him
as he has isolated himself from us and doesn’t want anything to do with us
because of this matter.
Life sure can come and knock the wind out of you. I also was disappointed in the eulogy for my
father. It seemed as though no one
wanted to say something nice about him.
Looking at the little pamphlet that was made for my Dad, just an old and
ugly photo with only a date of birth and death.
How sad, nothing telling about what he did and how he lived.
Here is my tribute to a man that raised me, my
sister Zelda and my brother Paul. Dad if
we could ever say thank you for the time you did spend with us we would. Our DAD? Dad you where someone that thought
about us all the time, you understood us and you had time for us, you were kind
and we could always call on you. You
never seemed to mind when we came all the way from Jo’burg to come and visit
and eat up all your food and enjoy ice-cream on the beach with you and
Willemien. You would listen to the
things we talked about, give sound advice and praise when needed, ready and
always willing to give us a helping hand.
We really love and miss you and may the Lord keep you safe till we meet
you again.
