This Flashback Thursday, I am posting a sweet eulogy by Ben Ong, a lovely man who helps many with his natural remedies and supplements. Ben lives in England. Yesterday, my dad sadly passed away. He was just short of his 106th birthday. I feel compelled to share with you a little about my remarkable dad. My father was a gentle, kind and strong man. He always had a smile and a twinkle in his eye. He was a charmer. Everyone loved him. Even in his last few months, all the nurses fell for his charms and grieved when he passed. Dad had a great singing voice. He could have had a career as a singer. In old age, he would break into song and sing an aria when the mood took him. Although his voice was but a shadow of what it had been, it was still powerful. Even on the morning of his passing, he regaled the nurses with his song. My dad was an entrepreneur and a businessman, starting his first business when he was only 18. Like many of his generation, life threw many great travails his way, including the loss of his firstborn to diphtheria. Many, many times, for one reason or another beyond his control, he lost everything and had to move countries, change both languages and cultures. Each time, he just got up, dusted himself off, and started again. No fuss. Starting from nothing again, with only his mind, his energy and his determination, he built one successful business after another, regardless of where he was. My dad was fearless and indomitable. He didnt retire until he was 85. At 92 he was still going for a power walk for an hour every day and never used a walking stick. At 98, he still climbed the stairs unaided. When he lost his mobility at the age of a hundred, his mind continue to function as sharp as a razor blade. Let me tell you the story of how he met my mother. Its a lovely story, very romantic and quite unlike our life and culture today. At the time, my dad was living in Paris. He had moved there from Germany after attending a Hitler youth meeting to understand for himself what that was about. He heard them sing we will drink the blood of the Jews. My father was a man of principle. His view was that a country that allows that, is not one where he would wish to work and live. He immediately sold out his share of a successful business for a fire-sale price and promptly moved to Paris where he started from scratch. My mother was living in Holland and came to Paris on holiday with her brother. Several years earlier, her mother had met my fathers sister on holiday in Czechoslovakia and they had exchanged contact information. My fathers sister, who had seen a photograph of my beautiful mother wanted her to call her brothers if ever she came to Paris. She did and they went out every day and every night for a week. Then walking down the Champs-Élysées, my dad stopped at a stall selling roses and bought the entire content of the stall, placed the roses in her arms and kissed her for the first time. My mum knew she was now engaged and six weeks later they were married. They lived together for 60 years and she adored him until her dying day. My dad passed away quietly and peacefully with no pain, with me and my sister by his side speaking to him as his breathing became ever more shallow until it finally stopped. He was also succeeded by his five grandchildren. Despite the pain and adversity, through ability, courage and determination, he always prevailed and he had a good life. May he rest in peace. I wish you good health, Ben
Posted on: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 16:17:41 +0000
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