Goodbyes

“Well, here at last, dear friends, on the shores of the Sea comes the end of our fellowship in Middle-earth. Go in peace! I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.”

The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien 

Today we said goodbye to you.

You grew up on a farm,
Fashioned clay oxen with mud and thorns for horns,
Shot a catty,
‘Rescued’ baby birds,
Once truanted school and brought your father the newspaper hoping he wouldn’t notice,
Knew exactly the right spot to get mussels off the rocks,
Adored your dear Dutch mother,
Allowed the dogs on the sofa,
Skimmed stones,
Made a ‘Wee Willie Winkie’ game out of bed time,
You were a son, a brother, a husband, a father, an uncle and a friend.

You could pump sand-prawns for Africa,
Imitate and name every Eastern Cape bird call,
Danced rock ‘n roll with your brothers in the sitting room with furniture pushed aside,
Considered biltong to be a food group,
Loved dogs almost more than people,
Married the love of your life,
Wore a vest all your life,
Taught your children to love road trips,
Loved the game reserve,
Played golf,
And ran marathons.

You were the life and soul of every party,
Turned the car radio up too loudly,
Played school and college rugby,
Walked a thousand wonderful miles on the Morgan Bay beach,
Tried to learn the harmonica,
Spoke fluent English, Xhosa and Afrikaans,
Acted in Pirates of Penzance,
Whistled and sang,
And read to your children.

You found apologies difficult, often said all the wrong things and sometimes made me so angry!
But you were generous,
You loved hugs and kisses,
Ate seafood,
Stole chips off my plate,
Came to love Jesus,
Had hazel eyes,
Provided for your family,
Hated being left out,
Loved Elvis and Roxette and Smokey and ABBA and Fleetwood Mac,
And one day you were going to go on a steam train trip!

You were not perfect, but you loved all your precious ones with such passion,
You were my Dad.

SMALL PRINT
P.s. In loving memory of Alan Glyd Thompson 1944 – 2017