Lent Day 22: Hey Hugh

Hey Hugh remember when Maryna handed you a calculator and you happily thought it was a remote control and you surfed the channels while she smugly watched her programme?

And do you remember when you told an awkward eleven year old aspiring dramatist that her performance of the now socially very unacceptable, 'My boomerang won't come back',  was the funniest thing you've ever seen? Do you know that she's now 41 and still goes to that moment when she needs a lift. 

Do you remember when you and Ross spent an entire day fighting the demonic runaway fires on our farm? I remember standing with you guys in the yard of my grandfather's home after we had removed burning floor boards from his dining room. The wind was still howling and we were all covered in soot. You and Ross could no longer see anything and no longer had eye lashes or eyebrows. Your eyes were blood shot and your bodies were totally stuffed. But you helped to save our farm that day when the community was a carnage of burnt people, dead animals, smoldering tractors, destroyed buildings and horror. Remember the beers we cracked open in the first natural darkness of the night after the fire had choked out even the sun. I'm not into beers much but flip they tasted good that evening. 

Hey Hugh I can still see your naughty smile. It's the smile on the faces of your three boys too. But let's be honest, between you and Maryna your boys were always going to be fun and just a little bit cheeky. Your boys are big now, we all are, but I'm grateful the both of you have left so much of yourselves in them. 

Hey Hugh I'm sorry the last few years have been rough. I'm sorry your body gave you some uphill. It's rough when things stop working the way they should. 

But Hugh I am so stoked you got to leave the way you wanted to. I'm so relieved you were home from hospital, on your farm, and that your final walk from this earth would have been on the land of your ancestors. I'm sure they came to take you home. 

When you get to Heaven Hugh please give Maryna a big hug. We miss her, and we will miss you too, luckily you've both left yourselves in the smiles and spirits of your boys. 

And Hugh thanks showing up when we needed you, and for teaching your boys to do the same. Hamba kahle neighbour.