Alexander the Great

I know those of you who know both me & my sister, will think that I've just followed her lead and put something up about our Grandfather, who past away last week (Thursday, 1st May 2008) however, I had actually thought about doing it myself, before I saw her entry. I guess you can say great minds think alike, or that he obviously had a deep impact on our lives, enough for us to both write about it.

Anyhow, the below has been extracted from my speech, that I did at his funeral.

One of my earliest and fondest memories of Popa is going for walks with him. From about the time I could walk he used to take me walking, around Huntly when we visited, or when we used to stay together at Mt Maunganui we would often walk around the mountain together. In fact the first time I ever climbed Mt Maunganui after having a heart operation as a kid, was with Popa, Dad and Uncle Bruce. When we visited them in Huntly walks around the block were common. These walks lead to my interest in exploring and investigating new places.

Popa of course was a keen sportsperson, and he taught me about several sports, like golf, cricket, pool and darts. He encouraged my own sporting endeavours, and also was a loyal attendee of our school prizegivings, and keen reader of our school reports.

I loved the fact he spent such quality time with me. This also included taking me for drives to wherever he was going at the time, to the wreckers, to the Golf Club, etc.

During these times he of course imparted his experiences, and wise words to me, such things as Never do drugs, Look after your sister, work hard, if you ever need help, ask a police officer, and the fact that if you need to find the address of someone look in the phonebook. He also told me that I should sell sheep manure, which when I did actually made me a decent amount of money, helped by his good marketing within Huntly.

Of course as I got older his knowledge and advice came in handy in regard to cars too, when I got my first car he took me down to Repco and bought me a spare fan belt, which eventually came in handy when mine broke one day between Hamilton and Huntly.

I guess there is probably no better way to sum up Popa, other than saying he was the best Grandfather one could have, spending time quality time with his Grandchildren, imparting his knowledge and experience, and living a life that provided a good example for his descendents. I love you Popa, thank you for your input in my life, and I hope that I can live a life that you would be proud of.

To read Suzanne's entry click here.
Note other recent blog entries are below this one.