Slainte! is the Irish toast that dad would always make on having a guinness. It was my toast to mum and dad at the end of my eulogy for them during their funeral back home in Brisbane on Tuesday. God speed! Be with God! What more could one want?
Yes, mum and dad died within four days of each other - mum on 15th July and dad on 19th July - and I went home for the funeral. While there, my mate said that I was not so reliable these days on my blog and I thought - how true! So today is my first day back in Bangkok and this is something I have to do first day.
I just want to share part of what I said about mum and dad. Here goes.
"The Great Depression of the 1930s affected them deeply. Dad would talk of how they used their last 100 pounds to go into business and from there they just worked hard and so they worked hard all their lives. A basic philosophy of their life came out of this experience. Dad explained that they worked so hard not just to make money but to make sure that their family enjoyed what they missed out on due to a lack of money - a good education -and to see that their family never went without like they did. ....
Basically whether the son or daughter, the brother or sister, the uncle or aunt, the cousin, the husband or wife, the father or mother, the grandparent or the great grandparent, dad and mum were ever faithful and loyal, living their lives with their own sense of integrity, reaching out to all in their world, loving and protecting them as best they could. ... They were great models of simple faith well lived. ....
What primarily matters in life is who we are. It is not really measured by achievements, honors, wealth, status or prestige. I would name as a central part of mum and dad's legacy for me that they were proud to just be and live who they were - Australian and Catholic with a family to care for and a community to contribute to. That was simply it!"
From now, I must be more faithful to my blog as obviously it does have something worthwhile to say and share.
I am John Murray, an Australian, Catholic priest of the Order of St Augustine. I live and work in Thailand and have been here since October 2005. I have many stories from my life journey and would simply like to share some of them. So hope you enjoy and go away sometime with a smile or a helpful little insight.
We gather
to give thanks for my 25 years.
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