Dear Dad… I Miss You
You always gave the most amazing hugs. You know, the kind that literally melts problems away. Warm and firm, secure and safe. Unconditional love from your heart to mine. You weren’t the one to hand them out all the time but when you did, those hugs were worth waiting for.
Over and over again, you created a thriving business from an idea. Up against it with no money and no resources, you always believed you could do whatever you wanted. If you decided something was going to work, it was.
You could fix or build anything. Tinkering around out in the shed.
You showed me a love of nature.
You helped people. I remember the time it flooded and you rescued stranded hikers in the bush. Sometimes even bringing them to our home, like the one time you brought home those Dutch cyclists who were too tired to bike into the headwind any longer.
You risked your life to do what’s right. Like that time, you held that guy in a headlock at the bottle shop. He had punched the lady at the checkout in the face. Or that time you wrestled with a guy trying to take his shotgun and shoot up an orchard full of workers.
You always had your door open for family, especially the kids. Your niece lived with us for months. Your sister would turn up with her tribe of kids and you would always feed and house them all until she disappeared again.
I remember your love of leftovers, never wasting anything. You could turn anything in the fridge into something delicious. Sometimes a hearty and delicious stew with varied ingredients depending on what was in the fridge.
You loved ‘slide tucker’ and the value in a good pie especially a Jimmy’s, our favourite. We would meet at the bakery to catch up and have a piece of battered fish, chips, fried eggs, and cream doughnuts.
I remember how excited you used to get about the latest Star Trek movie or episode of Outrageous Fortune. Totally outrageous alright.
I miss our chats when we would share the latest events with each other and end up laughing, laughing so hard I would cry. Sometimes you would too.
I want my children to see, feel, love and appreciate that man, their granddad the way I do. The man who always does the right thing. That you can fix and build anything even in this plastic ‘use once and throw away’ society we live in now. Encourage them to believe they can do anything if they set their mind to it.
But most of all I want them to experience your hugs.
Give us a call Dad. I miss you.
