Its End of The World as We Know It....

Good title for a song there!

Well I've been away a long time, not a squeak of a blog in over 3 years. And such a lot has changed.

I've changed home.
I've changed jobs (3 times)
And I've changed man.

All of these changes have been really good, positive and happy things. And each one is a story in itself, so much to tell, too much to cover in one random blog.
But there's another change that has blown my new world askew. I've lost my darling Daddy.

The last time I was blogging it was mere months after my Mum had died and I wrote of my grief and loss and sadness that I could no longer share my time with her. I wrote of having to build a closer relationship with my now widowed Dad and my dread that one day I would lose him too.

Well that day came.

My Dad was 91 years old. He had reshaped his life after losing Mum 4 and half years ago, re-invented himself. He had felt lost after having Mum to care for, felt he had no purpose, no role. So he made himself a new one.

I consider myself utterly blessed that I had over 4 years to get to know him better. He was enriching to be with, his mind active and enquiring. He shared stories, history and information with us all. His thoughts were always for others, small things like popping a light on so your room would be lit when you came in and saving a newspaper article he had read to show you when you visited because it was about something that would be of interest. He was articulate and full of mischief and humour.

He had an extraordinary order to his life. He rose early every morning without fail and by 8am was washed, shaved and dressed and eating his porridge breakfast. He would then wash up his pots and put on his 'work' clothes and set to it. He planted, potted, repaired, painted, modernised, polished, varnished, invented and mowed. His home and his garden were his work, his projects, his list of to-do's. It gave him purpose, a reason to get up each day and a role.

He cooked, cleaned, shopped, gardened and decorated. Only last summer he was up on the roof of the house with my New Husband supervising him while he did some minor repairs (so minor they didn't really require doing but as he's been up himself previously had spotted it!) My Dad was incredible.

And now he is gone. I miss him every single day.