I had hoped that this day would never come, the day when I have to say my farewells to my Dad. Tomorrow we have the funeral service but it seems every day since he died has had some sense of saying goodbye. It has been a time for a flood of memories to assault me and it seems even the simplest of things can bring them on.
Dad was not perfect but he was my Dad. During the many times in my childhood when my Mum was in hospital he was the one constant I could rely on. The needs of paying the bills meant that he often had to work long hours, especially when my Mum was in hospital and not working herself. This meant that on many occasions I only had myself to rely on to get on in life and my family will themselves testify that sometimes this means I rely too much on myself today when others are willing to help.
I am going to be taking the funeral service for my Dad tomorrow and when I did this for my Mum it turned out to be the hardest thing I have ever done – I anticipate the same will be true tomorrow. However, I’m doing it for my Dad because I want this one last thing I can do for him to be done properly – this is the last thing on this earth I can do for him.
I guess the memories will continue to flood in – holidays, time spent working on the house together, making model air-planes, Navy Days, visits to castles, etc. At the moment they bring a sense of loss with them but I look forward to that time when they bring more feelings of gratitude and happiness – as they should.
So farewell Dad and may you find peace in God’s house.
One reply on “Farewell to Dad”
Hi Chris. I would have commented before but I didn’t know you had a blog. I was amazed at how well you conducted the service. More than once I wanted to stand beside you and put my arm around you because I was sure you must have been finding it hard but I imagined that if it was me I would want to stand a!one because it would have made it easier to control my emotions.
To anyone else reading this I am Christopher’s brother, Andrew.