Tribute

As most of you know my dad died on October 6th. He had been living with cancer for about 4 years and had done extremely well during most of that time. In the early part of this year he began to suffer from lymphodema in one of his legs and by the end of the spring it had begun to affect his other leg. It got to the point that the entire lower half of this body was swollen. This caused him considerable discomfort and greatly reduced his mobility which in turn led to muscle wastage. There was nothing that could be done medically to alleviate the problem. Though the weakening of his body seemed a slow process the end of his life on earth came quickly. He was bedridden on the Tuesday (5th) and died on the Wednesday. This occurred in the final week before David was due his 2 week October break which meant that when we arrived in Stirling on that Wednesday we were able to stay for almost 3 weeks. My brother and his family were also able to be with us for about the same time. The funeral took place on the Saturday (9th) and it was beautiful, a real celebration of his life and the victory he gained in going to be with the Lord. We were amazed at the number of people that attended the funeral and reception and we were so thankful for their support. The congregation at Stirling held a service/tribute to my Dad on the Sunday, which was again very thoughtful and appreciated. We would also like to mention and thank Mitch, Isobel, Dick and Anne. Their help and friendship made this difficult time more bearable.

We also celebrated my Mum's birthday on the Sunday (10th); we had a meal together at a restaurant and later the kids helped to decorate a birthday cake for her.

After things had calmed down we decided we all needed a fun, family distraction and so planned a day out to the Sea Life aquarium at Loch Lomond. We ALL went - Grandad, Mum, JA, Kristen, Brennan, Jonty, David, Me, Abby and AJ. It was a great outing and though the kids were exhausted we made lots of fun memories and had some retail therapy in the gift shop.

Mum's birthday






Our family outing













All the family are doing reasonably well despite it being an obviously difficult time. We are happy for my Dad knowing he had made it home and claimed his reward but we also feel the loss of a great Christian gentleman, husband, father and grandfather. There are times when it still doesn't seem real and I wonder where he is or when he will walk through the door. So many times I think I will just call him and seek some wisdom on a task or problem, only to remember that fountain of knowledge is no longer there. Dad I love you and know I will see you again someday.