Life wasn’t always easy for my dad - he spent a lot of years double-shifting, working the farm alongside a long commute to a full-time job and sometimes an odd job on the side. Though he left school far too early, he was one of the most intelligent and capable men I have known. He spent his life continuing to learn, and had a natural curiosity and interest in the world right to the end.

 

From changing his dreams when he took over the farm at such a young age, to having his life shattered when my mom left him far too early, with little kids at home, to his long battles with cancer and other demons, he faced a lot of challenges and hard fights in his life, mostly with a smile on his face and a joke on his lips.

 

But he showed us that life goes on – from building a new life on the farm, to building a new life with Marg and her boys, it became happy again.

 

Every time I see Tim Conway or Carol Burnett, I will remember him rolling on the floor laughing, with tears in his eyes. He could make others laugh just as hard with his silly jokes.

 

In earlier years, he couldn’t speak much about how or what he felt, and it took me much longer than it should have to realize that even though he wasn’t great at saying “I love you”, he showed me in so many ways. From teaching me the practical stuff – driving the tractor, his car, the go-kart he built for us, the boat, to flying his plane – to his patience when I borrowed (and sometimes lost) his tools and used his spare lumber to build my treehouses - to giving me the space and freedom I needed to grow up in my own way (eventually) – he showed me. In every long, long walk through the bush together, every Saturday we spent loading turnips, every Sunday morning delivery (and the butterscotch sundaes along the way) – every Sunday afternoon family car trip, hours spent fishing in the river, and constantly replacing for me the lures I lost in the rapids – he showed it.

 

Even though I (and a couple of my brothers) did not begin life as his child, he happily took on the extra responsibility and loved us and taught us all just the same.

 

When I look around now at the good, loving, heartfelt people my sister and brothers and I have become, all I can do is feel proud of him, and of them all, and say, “Thanks, Dad”.

 

Colleen