I never appreciated my dad as much as I should have when he was alive and there are times I regret it! I think most of us that have lost a parent feel this way and there is no way to avoid feeling like this! The trick is to have someone tell you about the good stuff.

Recently I went with my mom to Sacramento restaurant at Schoenmakerskop to have a meal and remember my dad, since we threw his ashes into the ocean there.

But that isn’t the point here, instead I want to think about the good things.

The thing is that I never realised how much I really did learn from him and how much I enjoyed the times I did spend with him.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I remember sitting and watching rugby with him which was really awesome. He even got me into supporting my favourite team, the Sharks! This is probably one of the reasons why I will never support any other team above them!

However, that isn’t what my dad was all about, far from it actually. No matter what I say in this post, unless you knew my dad, it will never do him justice.

My dad was the ultimate DIY guy. That comes from being in the building industry from his teens. He even had his own company at one stage, but that was way before I was born. In his time he built hotels, schools and plenty more. This was kind of awesome when it came to picking up little tips & tricks, here and there. It wasn’t until he passed away that I realised I should’ve tried to learn more from him, but I’m a geek and I never really appreciated that while he was still around.

The funny thing is I sometimes come across a problem around the house and I then remember a time way back and see my dad doing it and voila, I’m doing it. Maybe not to his strict standards but hey I still am doing it!

The other thing I remember about him is his kind and generous soul. At times he seemed a real bastard if he felt like it, but deep down those close to him really knew the truth. He was always willing to help if he could and sometimes even if he couldn’t he would try. He gave up his own time and would come help out to the best of his ability.

He was also very good husband to my mom for 30 years despite the age difference. He would spoil her rotten and loved her unconditionally. I also learnt a lot from him in this regard. It basically comes down to: What would Dad do? One day when i get married I just hope I can be the kind of man he was to my wife, and even the kind of father he was to me.

I was lucky compared to my half-brothers and half-sisters because I had the pleasure of having him around most of my life. But the best times were when we moved to Port Elizabeth and was no longer in boarding school. It was then that I really started appreciating him.

I also got my love of cooking from him. He was an amazing cook and could cook anything he put his mind to; he would take a recipe from somewhere and make it his own.

I could go on and on about the things that I admired about him, but the most important one to me was his sick sense of humour. He would drive everyone mad and was the master of sarcasm and wit. If you didn’t know him though and met him for the first time, this would be the one thing that you remember.

Lastly I just want to bring up the one memory of him that is stuck in my head the entire time I was writing this blog.

My dad never appreciated my taste in music and there was very few bands that could endure me listening to. The one that he really never understood was Nirvana. One day I was playing their album Bleach and he walked into my room and said that it was really horrible and how could they make music like that. I said to him that it doesn’t matter because their lead singer, Kurt Cobain, had committed suicide.

I will never forget his reply: “Well from the sound of things, he was dying for a very long time”

We miss you Dad and will never forget you! Now stop giving those angels a hard time!