Sounds of life in other rooms

Today has been a challenging one. Dad is still hanging in there but it is because of the strength of his heart and not his body. We decided it would be a good idea to limit visitors to immediate family. This gave all of us time to spend with Dad, talking and stroking his arm and telling him how much he meant to us. It was a private day. A day spent figuring out how we were feeling. So many emotions pass through as you contemplate what the future of this family will be without the juggernaut that is Dad driving us forward. But he has taught us well and we will make him proud.

This evening was a time to laugh and share stories. We cooked a couple of chooks and opened a few bottles of wine. When the Silver Chain nurse came to administer to Dad, myself, Nath and Violet Carr went upstairs to give him some privacy. Nath is fond of a little flutter on the gee gees and dogs and has access to a TAB account so he and I started putting on $2 bets each way and watching Sky Racing to see if we'd won anything. It didn't take long for Violet to get in on the action and by the end of the night, we were up $60 and Violet was betting on dogs in Warnambol and horse races in South Africa.

Dad's old friends Janet and Jock Barker let us in on a story from their youth. They were moored off Rottnest Island on Jock's yacht when the unthinkable happened - the toilet conked out. Dad came to the rescue by producing a metal icecream container that allowed all those with a full bladder to relieve themselves. Dad then tightly resealed the lid and ceremoniously launched the good ship Wee Wee into the sea. Little did they know that a group of children lead by the Pied Piper of Rottnest - a pan pipe playing old goat called Uncle Arthur (who had his own column in The Sunday Times!) would spy 'the treasure' floating into shore and open it to see what Neptune had provided for the kiddies. So like Dad!

And in the middle of all this laughter and love, there he is listening to life and reminding us of why we love him like we do.