A sudden death

Gordon Daniel Kairn was just walking along the street,  like he did many times. It was January 1991. He was 63. Not even old enough to claim the age pension. Then Bam ! So suddenly!  Just like that . Oh yes the paramedics worked hard to bring some life back into his body. Hoping to restore some colour to his skin and a bit of fresh air to his lungs. Just  to have him hooked up to a machine for a few days. Then the machine was turned off. And we waited ; sat in the dark and very quiet hospital; and waited. And the inevitable happened. And he was gone. No goodbyes. Nothing. Oh yes we could talk to him but the conversation was one sided. All those stories went with him. All those questions  would no longer be answered.

This photo was taken a few weeks before Dad died

Dad no longer held a drivers licence ( that is another story ) but if he needed to get somewhere he would con a friend or family member ,or use the bus. Many times he caught the last bus to Kangaroo Flat and talked the bus driver into taking a detour. Yep, out of our kitchen window we would see the bus coming up the side street, totally off the normal bus route. It would stop at the corner and out he would hop, then wander down our driveway to have a chat with his grandkids before having a snooze in the recliner. Then it was up to us to drive him to his next destination.

 If there was no form of transport available when he needed it,  he walked. We still laugh about his common saying " You can walk anywhere " And yes you can. So taking a long walk was not foreign to him. It was in fact a  pretty natural occurrence.

A visit when we lived in Golden Square

My father was a big man . He worked hard. He enjoyed his food. And he loved his alcohol. I did not like the man that he was when he had overdone  the  beer intake. But addiction does destroy peoples lives and I believe that he was addicted to alcohol. His drinking did slow down in the later years. I wonder if underneath, he knew that it was destroying his health. To him, having a health check up was going to the chemist and having his blood pressure taken.

Dad loved giving Gyp a ride on Trixie. And he loved it when any of the family dropped in for a visit

But he was my father and I respected him. And I knew that it was the alcohol that changed him. And I was very determined to never marry someone who drank beer. And I succeeded.

When he was alcohol free you could have a great discussion with him. I did not always agree with him but that is what made for such stimulating conversation. All those Hawthorn versus Essendon conversations.

He loved his grandkids, and enjoyed showing them how to do things. Or explain the many things scattered around his workshop. He was the typical  proud grandfather and loved to see any of his grandchildren achieve  excellence in anything that they did.
We could never stop him from spending time with his grandkids. How cruel would that be. He loved them . And was proud of them. If he was still alive I wonder what he would be thinking . I think he would be so disappointed in what has happened to his family.

Life is short.  Think before you decide to cut someone out as you never know what tomorrow will bring. 

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