Thank you for being my father. Thank you for keeping me safe, for holding my hand crossing roads or standing at the edge of cliffs, for checking if I was warm enough, for making me feel protected. Thank you for taking me to the school bus stop on the back of your motor bike. Thank you for making me porridge for breakfast (even if I didn’t appreciate it at the time) and for all the Vegemite sandwiches you made for my school lunches (even if I didn’t appreciate them at the time). Thank you for coming to watch me come last in all my races. Thank you for taking me to Star Wars. Thank you for looking after my sister while she slowly declined and our hearts broke. Thank you for making a family in which I always knew I was loved. Thank you for all the adventures, even the camping trips I hated at the time. Thank you for always keeping food on the table and a roof over our heads, even the year that roof was on a caravan. Thank you for waiting up for me no matter what hour I came home from parties. Thank you for giving me your recipe for “shambled eggs” when I went flatting. Thank you for the home buying advice and for changing my locks when they needed changing. Thank you for telling me I was beautiful. Thank you for telling me you were proud of me. Thank you for dancing me down the aisle on my wedding day. Thank you for being the warm, generous, witty man you were, always building a deck or painting a wall, always accompanied by the Concert programme. You left our lives bigger and better than they were before and I miss you.

I.M. Ian Freegard 1945 – 2021