Soldato
- Joined
- 18 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 9,493
On Sunday 9th December 2007, my dad passed away at the age of 59.
I was at my girlfriends house on the day (we recently moved in together) when I recieved a phone call from my mum at around 9am. She was crying down the phone saying that she couldn't wake dad up.
I jumped in my car and drove round as quickly as I could. Entered the house, ran upstairs to the bedroom and saw my dad sleeping. The moment I saw him I knew it was too late and there was nothing I nor the paramendics could do to help him.
My dad was born in southern Italy in 1948. It was just after the war and times were extremely hard. He was forced to leave school at the age of 12 to begin work and earn money for the family. He trained as a carpenter in his home village before heading up north to Turin where he worked as a labourer. He then returned to southern Italy where he trained and worked as a baker before heading off to work in Germany.
In 1966, he arrived in England at the age 18 and found work in an hospital as a cook, a job he done for the next 24 years. It was during this time he met my mum and they married in 1980. I arrived in 1981 and my sister a year later.
The hospital closed down and my dad was made redundant. It was worrying time for my dad as he was 52 and concered if he would find another job with his lack of formal qualifications. He found work as a maintainence guy that he loved doing at the time of his death.
My dad was a typical old fashioned italian with old fashioned values. Whilst I never agreed with everything he said and done over the years, he was still my dad and helped bring me into this world.
He worked so hard throughout his life with the sole purpose of ensuring that me and my sister never go through the hardship that he had to endure. He put me and my sister through university and gave us the educational oppurtunities and start in life that was never available to him. For that, I will forever be extrememly grateful.
I can take comfort that my dad passed away peacefully and without suffering. How I found him that morning in bed was exactly how he slept. There was no sign of pain or struggle.
The funeral was on Monday and attended by many people. I carried the coffin in and out of the church with my uncle and good friends of my dad. My dad had done so much for me over the years and it was a complete honour to do one last thing for him. My sister read a beautiful poem. How she held it together I will never know. Here is the poem:
I'm typing this still shocked really and can't believe he's gone and won't be coming back.
Its even worse as its christmas time, a time where we all traditionally spend time together. I lost my grandfather (dads side) on Boxing day almost 20 years ago and my cousin was killed in an incident at work around 20 years ago.
No doubt I'll add more words to this post. In a way, just typing this little bit out has made me feel a bit better.
I was at my girlfriends house on the day (we recently moved in together) when I recieved a phone call from my mum at around 9am. She was crying down the phone saying that she couldn't wake dad up.
I jumped in my car and drove round as quickly as I could. Entered the house, ran upstairs to the bedroom and saw my dad sleeping. The moment I saw him I knew it was too late and there was nothing I nor the paramendics could do to help him.
My dad was born in southern Italy in 1948. It was just after the war and times were extremely hard. He was forced to leave school at the age of 12 to begin work and earn money for the family. He trained as a carpenter in his home village before heading up north to Turin where he worked as a labourer. He then returned to southern Italy where he trained and worked as a baker before heading off to work in Germany.
In 1966, he arrived in England at the age 18 and found work in an hospital as a cook, a job he done for the next 24 years. It was during this time he met my mum and they married in 1980. I arrived in 1981 and my sister a year later.
The hospital closed down and my dad was made redundant. It was worrying time for my dad as he was 52 and concered if he would find another job with his lack of formal qualifications. He found work as a maintainence guy that he loved doing at the time of his death.
My dad was a typical old fashioned italian with old fashioned values. Whilst I never agreed with everything he said and done over the years, he was still my dad and helped bring me into this world.
He worked so hard throughout his life with the sole purpose of ensuring that me and my sister never go through the hardship that he had to endure. He put me and my sister through university and gave us the educational oppurtunities and start in life that was never available to him. For that, I will forever be extrememly grateful.
I can take comfort that my dad passed away peacefully and without suffering. How I found him that morning in bed was exactly how he slept. There was no sign of pain or struggle.
The funeral was on Monday and attended by many people. I carried the coffin in and out of the church with my uncle and good friends of my dad. My dad had done so much for me over the years and it was a complete honour to do one last thing for him. My sister read a beautiful poem. How she held it together I will never know. Here is the poem:
I'm typing this still shocked really and can't believe he's gone and won't be coming back.
Its even worse as its christmas time, a time where we all traditionally spend time together. I lost my grandfather (dads side) on Boxing day almost 20 years ago and my cousin was killed in an incident at work around 20 years ago.
No doubt I'll add more words to this post. In a way, just typing this little bit out has made me feel a bit better.
