My inspiration

My Inspiration Board only needs one picture. My greatest inspiration is my Dad. On 21 August this year it will be 5 years since my dear Dad passed away.  He was 92. I was there with him at the end, holding his hand. I wasn't ready to let him go but I told him he could go to sleep - and he did.

After he passed away I shaved him and helped the nurses wash him and put him in clean clothes. Watching someone die of kidney failure is hideous. It was the most awful 10 days of my life and I learned a lot in that time - about loss and grieving and how each person approaches difficulties differently.

I miss him. We spent a lot of time together. I liked him. He was a good man. The pain is not raw any more but some things can still make tears come to my eyes.

I can remember how he taught me to dance by standing on his feet. How he spent hours driving me to swimming, ballet and netball. How he never missed a sporting match or a swimming carnival or a sports day. How he kept working and playing golf until he was in his mid-80s. How was still able to beat me playing squash when I was 18 and he was nearly 60. How people respected his opinion and common sense. How he was always there for me. How he listened to me and, only if asked, would offer me advice. How he let me make my own mistakes. How he knew I would learn from those mistakes. How he never said to me "I told you so!" How he was always there to pick up the pieces. How I trusted him absolutely. How he was always on my side.

When I was a young girl I used to sit on his lap and twirl his hair while he sang You Are My Sunshine to me. I still love that song. I have a copy of the words to the song in my lounge room. It makes me happy and sad at the same time.