Dad now your eulogy’s been read and your life actions rehashed.
We’re so proud of all you’ve achieved and done and how you used your dash
Norman Jackson 08 December 1924 - 22nd August 2014
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It was my father's funeral today in Australia. I was not able to go so I simply remembered him in the quieter moments I had. In the last few days his six children had contributed to his eulogy. It was a team effort led by my sister. The words we have chosen, are, like him, humble and modest but they are the sort of words I hope will be said at my own ending. They have been formed around an inspiring poem by Linda Ellis called 'The Dash' which captures in a simple but meaningful way, the idea that all that matters at the end of our life is the dash that appears between the dates of our birth and death. Because that dash represents the opportunity we had to live our life. It holds the detail of how we lived our life, how we chose to spend our time and what we did with the opportunity we had. My father chose to use his dash to create and serve his family and provide his children with an example of how to live a life of value to others not just to himself. I wonder what my children will say about my own dash when the time comes.
Dad now your eulogy’s been read and your life actions rehashed. We’re so proud of all you’ve achieved and done and how you used your dash Norman Jackson 08 December 1924 - 22nd August 2014
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![]() It's been a while since I wrote anything in my blog. This summer has shown me once again that I do not have the will or energy to write when serious things are happening in my life. Throughout the summer my father has been in and out of hospital in Australia and a few days ago he passed away. The situation left me feeling drained of energy or enthusiasm for anything that required me to be creative. My flatness of spirit and feelings of melancholy are feelings I rarely experience and it gives me an insight into how some people must feel when they are down. Life goes on of course in a fairly robotic way but there is little pleasure or satisfaction derived from doing things. My father was a good man, humble and modest, and strong in his beliefs and purposes. With a work ethic and working class values born in the hard years of the 1930's depression when he grew up. Living in a large family whose father was out of work he knew what being hungry felt like. Like many working class boys he left school at 14 and started work. He felt lucky to have a job as his father didn't have a job for most of the pre-war years and he was able to contribute a few shillings a week to the family income. As a child he was undernourished and suffered from bronchitis and in later life emphysema but never complained about his condition. He provided me with a good role model of what a father should be and I have tried, in my own way, to adapt this model and so pass it on to my children. In this way his legacy is passed on through the generations. On my last two trips to Austrailia I recorded his life story and started to form a book about our family history. When he became ill I made myself complete the book and got it printed through Lulu and sent him a copy a few weeks before he died - something I will always be glad I did. Talking to my daughter after his death she remarked how she could hear his voice in the words I had recorded. It was the most comforting thing that anyone said to me and it made me happy to think I had done something useful to preserve his memory for those who knew and loved him. His greatest legacy is in the life he gave to so many others - 6 children, 17 grandchildren and so far - 18 great grandchildren. He and mum created our family and gave me life so that one day I might think and write these words. |
PurposeTo develop my understandings of how I learn and develop through all parts of my life by recording and reflecting on my own life as it happens. I have a rough plan but most of what I do emerges from the circumstances of my life
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