Very Sad Week
This week has been a very sad one for us. A very close friend of Dean’s passed away last Sunday after an 18mth battle with Cancer. He leaves behind a wife (who I went to school with) and three beautiful daughters. Two of them are great friends with Jaz and very close to her in age.
We went to the funeral yesterday which as pretty tough. It was without a doubt the toughest funeral I have ever been to. Most of the time I can hold back the tears but this time I was bawling. There was a particularly touching moment when the girls sang ‘You Are My Sunshine’. I think it had the whole place sobbing! Dean was one of the pall bearers and I know he felt very honoured to do that one last thing for Leon. Although I know he (and I) will most certainly be keeping an eye on Leah and the girls in the months ahead. Thank goodness she seems to have a really good support network. It sounds like her best friend has really been looking after her and the girls which is great.
Another touching moment was when of the ‘Ozgolf’ guys placed an ozgolf hat on the coffin.
As a tribute they had his golf clubs on the stage along with his star wars helmets. (He was a Star Wars fanatic) It seemed quite fitting that as everyone was leaving the burial that the storm clouds were looming and the rain came belting down. Thankfully everyone seemed to make it to their cars, but by the time we got back to the church hall we had to make our way through hail to get inside.
Leon will be sadly missed and you could tell by the turnout (not that we had any doubt!) that he has touched the hearts of many. He was a very friendly guy and seeing him together with his wife spoke volumes about the tremendous love, friendship and respect they had with each other.
Leon, Dean and I will miss you heaps. Dean will miss your golfing and chats out on the golf course and I will most certainly miss our dinners at sizzlers, and our park outings together with the kids.
We haven’t told Jaz yet, I guess we are waiting for the right moment. We will have to tell her before the next time she plays with the girls so that she isn’t taken by surprise if the girls mention it to her.
