I ask for some indulgence from the mods for this post
This evening my father passed away after a four year battle with bowel cancer.
He was the bravest person I ever met.
I said at my wedding that I if I could be half the father and husband he was then I would consider myself a success.
Geoff D was 77 and could speak 9 languages, wrote a best selling history book that outsold the autobiography of Bill Hayden on it’s first week, graduated Uni at 55 and instilled a love of all things history especially of the celts in me.
I am a Union official and my values come from my dad. I fight because he saw that a better world could be achieved for the working class. He achieved that for our family through sheer hard work and determination.
He never thought he would see grandchildren. He got to meet three.
I will miss my father more than words can ever describe. He was, is and forever will be my hero
I would personally like to thank reboot for everything he has done for me whilst my father has been ill. I know you don’t expect a thank you mate but you deserve one and I could not ask for a better friend.
I don’t write this in a desire to receive sympathy but merely to express my feelings and if the mods wish to gurge/lock this thread then I will not be offended.
Some day some one somewhere in the world will cure cancer and I will personally shake that persons hand as it will mean people no longer have to feel what I feel right now.
So Dad
May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind always be at your back
May the sun shine always upon your face
And rains fall soft upon your fields
Until we meet again
May our Celtic ancestors hold you in their hands
I lost my Mum on the 22nd of April this year after a 3 and a half year battle with breast cancer. She was in her mid 70s when she was diagnosed and her oncologist didn’t expect her to last very long.
She fought like a champion and nearly made it to 80.
I understand exactly how you feel about cancer mate - I offer my condolences and my thoughts are with you.
He sent me this not long before he passed, he knew he was going:
Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.
