Goodbye Dad

Goodbye Dad

Dad, how does one say farewell not knowing you decided to leave us slightly earlier than anyone expected?

One night after your passing , you left a feather in the room you always slept..

A feather for remembrance

A feather for love

A feather for farewell

You shared human imperfection with us all

And because no single one is perfect, we learn to forgive

Because life is too short

Too short for things that are not important

Too short for fighting

Too short for crap that does not matter

You had difficulty in showing affection the traditional way

And could be really hardheaded if you had a difficult day

But still

With your small gestures and even just the way you greeted

You made known that you cared

Through our sometimes uncalled for naivity in the goodness of all

We were misled by some

But also received countless blessings from others

What a privilege

What a privilege to have known you

What a privilege to have sight of your never ending perseverance

Even in dark times

Thank you for those lessons

Your empathy was palpable

You cared deeply for those you believed sincere

And continued to do so in spite of those who misled you

For that we honour you

We still remember your stories

How you loved chatting

How proud you were of your grandchildren

And how you always stuck with just one whisky

What a blessing it was to have cared for you in the last two months of your life

To give you some dignity

And humanity

A man in your own right you were

Soared to great heights as a young man

Changing direction ever so often

And living your passion of doing business as you would always say;

Doing business so that you stayed/became friends with those you did

You made an impression; boring you were not

Your employees amazed at your knowledge

You family in silent awe of your Stoic nature

Right up to the end you made your plans

But God decided otherwise

May your soul rest in peace

And dad, please allow yourself the time to listen to your favorite Beethoven

Go fly with your Cessna182 again

Filled with the smell of Avgas that made me so queezy as a young boy

Let’s seek the gap in the clouds again

So that you can land safely when it becomes too overcast

Have a Cappuchino with your loved ones and hero’s with whom you are now

Enjoy them

Talk with them

Because now you have time

Time is precious which we must appreciate

Your time is no longer measured

Your time does not have a watch

Your time is no longer ours to share

We will always miss you

Memories will slowly fade in a distant haze of single thoughts

But we will always love you

Until we meet again…….