Old as she was, she still missed her daddy sometimes. ~Gloria Naylor

My Dad would have been 85 years old yesterday.  I miss him so much some times.  However, I do know that in his own way he is with me all the time, whether one believes in life after death or not, the dead remain with us in our memories and in our conscience.  It´s not seldom that I think, what would dad have said, or what would dad have done, or more recently with my going into politics - what would dad have thought!

We look so tanned in this photo, so I can't quite understand why we are both wearing Icelandic woollen jumpers..  Must have been the first of the autumn days and cooler weather in Perth.  I think that I have mentioned on this blog before that I feel blessed in having had a lot of time with dad - being the youngest and the unmarried one, I remained at home longer than my siblings. Mum worked full time in a restaurant so often dad and I would be together at home at the kitchen table discussing world events and politics.  It was through him that I became interested in politics and it was he who moulded my views and my moral beliefs.  That you should always aspire to do your best in whatever you do, do it with honesty and integrity.  Sometimes I feel that I am not living up to expectations, but I do try.  Also, no man has ever lived up to the expectations that I have of them - my dad was the blueprint.

I never really understood what drove him to go to Australia when he did, I sort of think I do, but then knowing how complex and layered individuals are and the actions that they take as a result of different forces I sometimes think that  maybe there was more.  I do know though that he did it for us, he thought that Iceland would not give us the opportunities that we would get in Australia.  I certainly don't regret growing up there, I also made the choice like him to come back.  On returning to Iceland the first thing he did was buy himself a little fishing boat.  He was a true man of the sea and loved going out on his little putt putt boat fishing for dinner and just enjoying being on the fjord.  

Luckily for us he and ma came back and spent a year with us in Aus after he got sick, this is one of the last group photos of him with his grandchildren in Australia.  I often wish that they had had a chance to get to know him better, I think though that some of them still have treasured memories of time spent with him.

This photo was taken in June 1993, dad passed away on the 1st of August 1993.  Mum and dad had booked tickets to come to Aus for a holiday later in August, that was just not to be.  Still I know that before he died he had a wonderful trip with my eldest brother on the ship that he was captaining - all around Iceland, quality time spent with the son that was left behind.


I am so thankful for having had him as my father.  A wonderful human being.