Dad was never a boastful man.... - In memory of James.
This was originally posted on my previous blog a year ago in memory of my Father who had recently passed away. It's been just over a year now since he passed, I missed him every day and still expect to hear him answer the phone with "Madhouse" or "gayline!" when I call home. Sept would have been both Mum & Dad's anniversary and Dad's birthday so I guess that's in part why my feelings are a little more to the surface this month than usual.
I have also added some images of Laphroaig Distillery on Islay, which was Dad's favourite Malt and they very kindly allowed us to carry out Dad's final wishes of visiting his square foot of sod which meant a lot to the family and we can only begin to thank them for that.
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It's been just over a month now since Dad passed away and there have been good days and bad days and some really bad days along the way so far which I'm told is to be expected. My friends in NZ have been fantastic and making sure I'm doing OK but I've always been someone who doesn't want to bother people but they know that so they make sure they pester me. My Partner, Angela, has been my rock of late, even when she's not around I know I have her to lean on and that has been just so incredibly helpful I'm not sure how to let her know how much she has helped me as have my friends.
Being so far away from the family is hard, regular calls to Mum and my Sister & Brother help but it's still hard all the same but we are all going through the same thing in our own ways I guess. Every time I call home I still expect Dad to come on the phone and ask me what's 'fresh' or to find out if I'm running the company yet, or tell me something new about what's going on in Glasgow.
Tomorrow is the 25th of Sept and would have been my Father's 70th birthday, Saturday past would have been the party we had been planning for him. As you can imagine dates and events like these so close to someone's passing are very raw and bring up a whole range of things and questions in your head about what you could have done differently or more of and stuff like that.
One thing I was determined I had to do after Dad's passing was give the Eulogy. I'd seen ministers at other peoples funerals that didn't really know the person adn with the best of intentions tried to get through it after talking to the family, but it would always be clear that they didn't really know the person and I couldn't have taken that, nor did I want to see mum go through that. There were just over 2 hundred people at the funeral that we could count, you do these things after the event I guess to help prove how well liked and loved your loved one is or was, I know it certainly helped mum to know so many people cared so much.
My brother Andrew, brother in law Raymond a close friend of my dad Joe and myself carried Dad's coffin in as a final mark of respect. I was so proud of my young brother, he has been so incredibly strong throughout the whole time. Raymond, my sisters husband has been just outstanding and I'm not sure we'll ever be able to thank him, and many other enough for the help they gave.
As I said I was determined to give Dad's Eulogy, I felt it would be a fitting time to post this here, I hope people do not mind too much.
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Dad was never a boastful man, well not about himself, about mum, his kids and grandkids, yes to everyone and anyone who would listen but never about himself. Well I’d like to take some time and boast about our dad, someone we are and will always be very proud of.
Dad was a keen biker in his youth, his pride & joy was his James motorcycle which he spray painted… he did this by reversing the motor on my gran’s hover… and painting the bike, while it was waiting to dry, his mum, our gran, decided to hoover the carpets… pretty sure he got a thick ear for that.
He did his national service in the HLI and by his own admission did some pretty mad things, perhaps where the we get it from then.
