My Dad, Stewart Geddes,  passed away this morning.  Although I am saddened to know that he is gone, there is also a tinge of relief since, over the last month, he has been subjected to one indignity and loss after another.

A few weeks ago, Dad said to me ” I am not worried about being dead. It’s the dying part that concerns me.”   Dad had led a very independent and productive life for almost 95 years so to end up weakened and dependent and bed-ridden was not something he relished.  We would all like to just die in our sleep when the time is near.  Unfortunately that doesn’t always happen.

I will miss Dad’s sensible guidance and advice.  His level-headed approach to dealing with life’s problems was always welcomed.  His generosity of spirit and resources to family and community was a model for me.  I am who I am today, in great part, not only to the genes I inherited from my parents but from their guidance and example.

For the past while I have recognized that I have been the proverbial filling of the sandwich generation with my family relationships and concerns ranging from my youngest granddaughter at 3 to my father at 94.  With Dad’s passing, there is a generation gone and a recognition that I am now one of the pieces of bread on the sandwich.  I hope I don’t get crusty.

I have mentioned Dad i in several of my blog articles in the past. You can find these articles here if you want to know more about him.

Father’s Day 2012

 A surprise at the Stewart Geddes School

A dinner I will always remember

Balls, Christmas ones.

Savouring every last drop.

Our family will gather from across Canada for a memorial celebration of Dad’s life on October 4 – a family Thanksgiving for a life that we are grateful to having had part of us for so many years.

A family Christmas past. The end of a generation. You can see from the choice of red clothes that my parents  loved life.