Friday 15 June 2018

Because I'm so lucky

In the back row, my dad in a striped sweater, apparently without the moustache that he wore every day except 3 shocking ones in the 60s
Every year as we get close to Father's Day, I try, yet again,  to post a blog somewhat different from the ones I've presented in other years.  I'm finding that hard this year as I know he was a quiet man and would not have been comfortable if I were to write something he would consider boastful, so in spite of the over-the-top story I have in my heart, I'm just going for facts.

A couple of weeks ago, I was sorting out some photos that were print, not digital, and came across a photo of my dad, just days before his death, in a hospital bed, with family all around him. I was startled, dropped the picture and found my heart pounding. I do not cherish that time in our lives, but it is a real part of it.

For good or bad, I try to remember Dad as a sweet person (everybody said that), who seldom raised his voice to any one or about any thing, a man who was always at the heart of the family that we were, who was always available to us, who treated my mother as the equal that she was, and who taught me to drive despite the snippy attitude I brought to those days.

I know he was far more than that. He had left home at a very young age, had served in the Canadian Army during WW2 and until he retired in 1964; he drove a taxi off-hours for years to supplement the cost of raising six kids, always helped us to work out what our goals were and what might be the way to achieve them, and consoled us if we didn't get there. He could help us to understand why we weren't a two-car family, nor one that travelled the continents, and why family came first when things got rough.

At the same time that the people who worked with him called him Sergeant Dad, he became the most-loved Papa for all our kids and most of the kids whose families were close to ours.  Can you see why?










4 comments:

  1. Such a sensitive and loving tribute.

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  2. Lucky indeed. What a wonderful man!

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  3. Lucky indeed. What a wonderful man!

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  4. Loved reading about him. You are lucky to have had such a fine father. -Kate

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