Hello blog - this is a photo of my dad with his two surviving sisters, Jean and Ann. It's Father's Day today in Australia and fathers were honoured in the church service this morning. I used to drive to the Gold Coast on Father's Day every year, but the roads are jammed today with people who remembered their father and probably had not seen him for a while. I saw my dad on Friday when they drove up here (with his axe to show David how to cut up the small tree trunk Tim dug out for me last month). I am also driving down to spend the day with them at Broadbeach on Friday next - to walk with them on the sandy beaches and smell the fresh salty air together....in short, I do not need to get into cramped roads on a special day to visit my dad. I will share some time with him on Friday and I might be lucky to share a ginger chocolate from his gift from me.
My father has been the patriarch of our family and has kept up his support to my sister and myself over all these years. It can't have been easy. Neither of us is very rebellious, but he did go through the sixties with teenage daughters in a town where the army had national servicemen and the RAAF and the university (then the college of advanced education). Boys must have been a bit of a worry - I recall one feisty lad who was from near Albury. He drove up to Wagga one weekend and decided to throw stones at my bedroom window until my father collected his golf stick and led him off our property! A couple of years later, another lad wanted to marry me, even though we were only 18 and 19. Dad did a lot of pacing during our teenage years. He went to a political rally with my sister to lend her his conservative opinions afterwards. He made sure we attended Sunday School and youth group and guides. Yes, he was a success at his workplace, but nothing like the success he was for my sister and myself as our father. He led by example. At church, he handed out the hymn sheets, counted the pennies. He (and mum) was on committees at the school and in brownies and guides too. They were at the school fetes and helped us decorate our bikes with streamers. Best of all, my sister and I always felt proud of his fun-loving sense of humour. He loved being a part of the community in which we lived and attended regular Rotary meetings where he was admired for his participation as president and master at arms. At work, in short, he started up country television in NSW and made it an early success. He chose what regional television would want to watch and always put his values first - no rubbish TV at RVN2. What a guy. Judy and I have been very fortunate in that he is still driving at 85 and only bought glasses for driving last week. He's fit and well and still enjoys helping out 'the old' people in the other units in which they live. He's active on the committee there as his mind has never lapsed, his body is fit for his age. He enjoys nothing more than hearing from his grandchildren or his daughters, except spending time as a family group and we all love him to bits.
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