…there’s friends in it!

And I got two, w00t! From Meg and Karen. Spanks girls!

As usual, I am late with they giving, and everyone already bloody has one! I guess you call can’t help being such a likeable bunch.

I am going to pass this along to some of the wonderful peoples (and their furries) who have been coming a long and commenting, some have been hanging around for years! Of course a huge super thank you to everyone who stops by to visit and comments!

• DaisyMae Maus
• Daisy
• Cheysuli
• Naomi
• Barbara
• Kay
• Patric

I was also lucky last week to win Meg’s pay it forward competition. Still trying to come up with something good..not having much luck. Stay tuned for that excitement tomorrow.

Thank you to everyone and their kind words in my last post regarding family and my dad passing away, they were very much appreciated. I have since decided to remove that post. While I was fairly sedate in what I had to say, and was more than entitled to be pissed off..I felt bad, I’m such a spineless wuss.

A week after initially contacting my grandmother, I had to suck it up and ring again. I really tried to avoid it, by trying to hunt down some information myself and with the wonderful help from the lovely Meg (thank you SOO much again Meg!). We could find nothing, no newspaper notices, not funeral details in the area..nothing. She told me to contact my Aunt for the details, managed to quickly grab the number of his on again off again girlfriend before she cut the 1min call short.

So the Weekend before last we went to Wollongong or Willygong if you ask Hayden. Not sure what it is with my kids and renaming Australia towns. We went to met a lady that Dad had be living with, we thought they had married, but were only engaged. They hadn’t been together for a few years, but were still friends, and she was helping him out. Found out a lot, more than his family would have been able to tell us. Still don’t have an exact date. Seems he died at home, alone and it was a few days before he was found. He apparently had a massive heart attacked and collapsed. He then spent a further 2 weeks in the morgue waiting for family to be contacted.

Really breaks you heart to think of him like that. You hear about it in the news so often, but never think it would happen to your own loved ones. While he chose to live his life that way, alone, an alcoholic. But to die alone, and so lonely..is just sad He was my Daddy.

While a lot of her info was helpful in piecing together the last few years of his life. I’m not sure that it helped, or made things worse. I guess eventually I will be happier that I knew everything.

The questions still remained as to why we weren’t contacted. So I went home and rang my Aunt. Of all that side of the family, we were closest to them. I had such fond memories of the time we would spend with them. Which made it hurt even more. It was a little weird, but she was just as lovely as I remember. She was very sorry, said they tried to contact my Mum and me, but assuming I had married and changed my name didn’t look in the phone book for me. I guess I have to give them the benefit of the doubt that they did try, and it’s easy to say with hide sight they should/could have done more.

They were off to New Zealand in 2 days for 6 weeks and they would be in contact when they get back. But told me of the plans they have to scatter his ashes in April. All the family is planning to come to Sydney, and scatter his ashes near Garden Island (a Navel base in Sydney Harbour). Dad was in the Navy, and had a deep love for the Navy, ships and the sea.

Perhaps he can find peace again there. I hope I can find some too.