You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone

My siblings and me by the swing Dad made

There’s a threshold crossed by siblings, probably traversed without fanfare. It’s the day they consider their brothers and sisters with feelings of admiration and respect.

For me, this deep-running river of feeling did not arise in the best of times but in the worst of times. It flowed – and flows – at our lowest ebbs. When my brothers and sisters face their grossest challenges; when their souls have been needled and they call on all their resources of strength to get through.

And now, whether we accept it or not, we children are perched in the greatest precipice of our lives: facing our parents closing the phrase of their lives. It’s inevitable. We all gotta die some time. And without being bleak, our father has a thriving, curious brain fighting against a tired and injured heart. And we don’t think the brain has the stamina needed to win. Our mother, by contrast, will punch on for years. We think.

To my siblings, my closest peers, I know what I’ve got. It’s not yet gone, and I’m going to nurture my friendship with you for as long as we’re all still around.

So, however and whenever the inevitable unfolds, I will be lucky to have these people to share my worst of times with.

WHAT I SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS MORNING

• Read my academic papers

WHAT I DID THIS MORNING

• Made Dad breakfast in bed
• Ate my breakfast in bed with Dad as he ate his breakfast in bed
• Hung out three loads of washing
• Went to the pharmacist for Dad
• Bought a dozen free range eggs
• Bought the winning super-duper, mega extra Lotto ticket

Happy weekend all

xx