I found this group of photos
which were taken in about 2005...had to post them. Our eldest daughter Melissa was about to drive back to Sydney... something a parent never gets comfortable about... We had this party Policeman's' hat and Don got me to whack it on him so he could go out to the car and lecture her about driving to the speed limit all of that stuff... it was a funny moment..I had my camera because I always take goodbye shots... this man knew what he was on about re cars, and had survived many rollovers in between about 14 and 23 (I was in one of them). He would joke that he never broke a bone in his whole body apart from his neck...(black humour - sorry people) he could pull a car engine apart and put it back in - not these computerised cars...but the 1960s ones..which we had a few of...they were cheap.

But it was the look on his face in the last photo that caught my eye today. I had never noticed... his girls, me, the family unit were just all so precious to him. He used to joke to me in the last years that " I think I'll croak soon", not in a mean way, but I think he was trying to prepare me...or himself. Or he'd say "I a pretty well fucked really". One time of many when he became unconscious from extremely low Blood Pressure.. he said, "that wouldn't be a bad way to go, I didn't feel a thing"

Its funny - I know so many people who don't appreciate what they have got as far as family go... one thing about we four is that we did appreciate it all...every gathering was special, every welcome, every goodbye was an event.

Sure we argued, and there were barneys all round at times but even they were fun in the end, because we would get to a point and say," what started all this?" and both of us wouldn't remember. Just being thrown together all day every day...we did pretty well.

We had such fun. Some people rocket off each other in a great way...round the Christmas table in latter years it was always just us four, and we would laugh ourselves silly about the snobs in the family, the fools in the family, political correctness had no place at our table and we taught the girls well...and they taught us as well. No one was safe from Don's brilliant mimicry. Which we all picked up, but he was the master

Just good memories of a good man, and a good life.