On the morning of the 6th January 2007, my father passed away.
Last winter he was taken into hospital with suspected heart failure. Whilst there he discovered he had Renal Cancer with Bone Metastasis. Due to the strain on his heart, they decided not to operate and instead monitored him regularly.

My father had been diabetic for years and this was never a problem until Christmas day. When he was taken in the hospital in the early hours of the morning, after suffering a hypo. However, he was back at home for his Christmas lunch.

On the 4th once again we thought my dad had suffered a hypo in the evening. And once again called the ambulance. However, this time we discovered it was actually cancer.

Without a doubt, my father has been the most influential person in my life. He arrived in the UK with nothing. Quickly saved up enough for my mum to travel from South Africa so they could get married. For years, my parents thought they could not have children. And when my sister was born they were over the moon. 17 months later I was born and they were so grateful for their two blessing. As a result of this, we were completely spoilt.

With the exception of knitting all my other passion stem from my dad. As a young child, my mum worked evening so my dad looked after my sister and I. He would sit in his armchair, my sister on one armrest me on the other, watching Batman or a Western on BBC2. Which undoubtedly lead to my love of comics. I remember sitting on his knee in the cinema begin scared of the monster at the beginning of Empire Strikes Back.

My dad was determined to offer my sister and me the opportunities he never had. Encouraging us to further education and showing us the world. As teenagers, our family holidays were to The West Coast of America and Grand Canyon, India, China and Mexico. Leading to my love of learning and travel.

Even as an adult he spoilt, his daughters and even his future son-in-law. If we dreamed of something for our birthdays or Christmas he would always be one to buy it for us. Even if he didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. Whether it was an iPod, designer handbag or something in a little blue box.

At the moment we are taking each day at a time. But I still feel like my world has come crashing down around me.

Featured Image from Pixabay.