A Hard Worker
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Written by yve 9. Nov 2007 10:26 PM
Dad has always been a hard worker. Even when he retired from the Police force at 50 he didn't rest on his laurels but decided with Mum to buy a property in northern NSW to run merinos in 1989. It was a huge property and needed quite a bit of attention. Kilometres of fencing, clearing acres of regrowth, redoing the sheep runs up near the shearing shed by using timber felled, debarked and carted from around the property, as well as taking care of 2000 sheep.
All this was hard yakka, but it didn't stop there, then there was the garden, planting trees, shrubs, making new garden beds, collecting load after trailer load of heavy granite rocks for borders and gravel for paths and driveways, to building a huge shadecloth covered fernery to provide a cool relaxing haven away from the hot unrelenting summer sun. The transformation of the garden was a sight to behold over the years, from a once barren parched yard a couple of metres out from the house to about an acre of lush green and densely planted oasis it was just beautiful. Others in the area couldn't believe you could have such a garden but the house tank (or dam) was huge and when it rained about once or twice a year it poured!!
Dad started to slow down a bit after he had a couple of brief TIA's or as I like to call them brain flames, he would be sitting watching TV or at the table and just blackout for a few moments. Mum took him to the hospital and after monitoring and an overnight stay they couldn't find anything wrong. But eventually after another doctors visit in Victoria it was decided that he had Sick Sinus syndrome which caused his heart to beat very irregularily, either very very slow or extremely fast. A pacemaker was implanted about 6 years ago. After this Mum decided she wanted Dad closer to medical help as the nearest large hospital was 200 kms away. With this they put their property on the market and moved down to Victoria.
Although Dad was still fairly active he became tired very quickly and would often have long naps during the day after any hard physical labour. He was still quick witted and very intelligent. He could have a discussion about anything and everything and his ability to recall facts and events was absolutely amazing.