5 February 2015
I can't believe dad passed away 20 years ago today. I still miss and think about him often. I would love to see what he would look like today if he was still around. Would his tummy be rounder, the beard whiter, would the glasses be more trendy and would the video camera still get brought out at Christmas time? I wonder how many more trains would have been lovingly crafted and what new countries and cities explored!
I will always remember dad in his hip shirts (he brought in the fashion long before Mandela!), his gentle nature, love of classical music and how he would sometime laugh so much at his own jokes that he would start to cough. I think I get my love of pruning the garden from dad (I wish I had his chainsaw) and I think back fondly of his love of body surfing at Muizenberg and sleeping on the balcony under the stars.
Dad, I know your grandchildren would adore you and I wish you were around to take Matthew fishing, show him how to check the water level on the car battery and how all your machines and trains worked. I loved visiting you in your workshop and always had to tread lightly so not to stand on any metal filings. I remember reading my Afrikaans books to you for homework and always telling you I only had 3 pages to read out loud and not the actual 8. (You never checked!). I loved how you always had a white packet with syringes from work on your top shelf that Graeme and I could have to fill with water and squirt each other. (We didn't get too wet with 5ml syringe and we loved it when you had the 20ml ones!)
I loved holding your hand as we walked to your red beetle parked under the bridge from your work in Rondebosch, you wearing your white medical shirt and me feeling so proud that you were my dad.
So dad, thanks for the memories. It may be 20 years, but you will always be loved and never forgotten.
xxxxxx
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