|
|
|
|
I have fought the good fight
I have won the race George Young VOWLES For the record... Dad spent one thousand five hundred and fourteen days in the Citizen Military Forces from December 1941 to March 1946. Dad was a member of the 25th Australian Infantry Battalion. 539 days were served in Australia and the remaining nine hundred and seventy five days were served in New Guinea. Dad was a member of the R.S.L, the Irish Club, the TPI Association, and an active member of his church with Mum and myself. Eulogy One may think "Here lies George"…. But you may be mistaken…. Because George is alive and well, without the restriction of body, in each of us here today. I do not doubt that we are putting George's body to rest, a rest that it truly deserves, but his spirit lives on in each of us, as he has touched us all with his gentle spirit. Each of us here has a memory of George that is unique and precious to them, and it is this memory, that is immortal, and free of limitations. I personally, am honoured to have known George, and he will live on, in me, forever. His memory is a happy one, even though, I was by Dad's side, in his last hours, and held the hand of his frail body. The night before George died, he said to me "Goodbye Bren, and thanks for all you have done" The timing and accuracy of this statement was borne out to me exactly twenty four hours later when I received a call from Mt Olivet at 6:55 p.m. on Monday October 18th, to inform me that, and I quote "Your Dad has gone, he left us ten minutes ago. He gently went to sleep and began his journey." Dad's early care through the years, was undertaken by Greenslopes Repatriation Hospital, for which Dad was extremely grateful. Dad spoke so highly of the Greenslopes Repatriation Hospital and commented to me, more than ten years ago, that he could always look forward to spending his last days there. With evolution, this situation unfortunately changed. I cannot thank enough, the regular sisters, and nurses, of Ward 33 of Greenslopes Private Hospital for their love, care and attention shown Dad in his recent stay with them. Floor 2 at Mt Olivet is the palliative hospice for people who have less than 3 months, before they pass into eternal life. Dad was with two other men in his room there. When Barry and I went to Mount Olivet to collect Dad's belongings, I had the pleasure of chatting with Roy, one of Dad's companions. As I was speaking with Roy, the man was moved to tears, and spoke very highly of Dad and mentioned the chats that the two of them had. Roy made the observation that Dad was always cheery, outgoing, considerate, peaceful and calm. Even in this last phase of his earthly life, Dad was outgoing, considerate, at peace, and definitely a true gentleman. The care and attention George received at Mt Olivet was beyond reproach, and my thanks go to the wonderful people who are part of the hospice for their unique, loving and thoughtful attention. Dad's last hours were spent enjoying Mum play her piano, preparing to welcome Dad's immortal soul. The music you hear now, and before this celebration began is a portion of that tape. With the exception of Dorothy, Dad's only remaining sister, some may say that we are approaching the end of an era, but I beg to differ, as this era is reborn in each of us, who has had the privilege of knowing this simple, kind, affectionate, loving, gentle man in his earthly life. When Mum was with us, God rest her soul, she had the wisdom to purchase two plots in the lawn cemetery at Nudgee. One plot contains the earthly remains of Mum's parents, the other is for the three of us. Someone once commented that Dad has now joined Mum for the party, and I will be there one day, to keep the noise down. Today we place George's earthly, tired, mortal remains to rest in a fitting manner. We bear in mind that George HAS fought the good fight and has DEFINITELY won the race. |
