My Mother's Father died on Friday.
I don't know how to feel about it. I'm sad. I'm relieved. I'm a bit numb. This won't be a proper caithris as he might have had, had he lived and died 200+ years ago in Scotland, but this is what I can do to celebrate his life.
William Wallace McLachlan.
He was Scottish.
He worked for Carnation.
He was married to Daphne and had four beautiful children: Janet, Katie, Valerie and Donald.
Janet married Allen and adopted two sons: Brian and Andrew.
Katie married Greg and had two daughters: Meaghan and Gillian.
Valerie married Jim and they had two daughters and a son: Katelin, Ellen and Scot.
Donald married a beautiful woman this year: Kathy.
All four children married for love which they had to have learned from their parents.
He had horses and tractors.
Daphne died all too young.
He always bought us sweet cereal when we visited that Mum and Dad wouldn't let us eat otherwise.
He had a great dog named Hamish.
He used to be called Grandad.
His nickname was "G'Dad" because Grandad was too long to fit on the stocking we hung for him at Christmas.
He used to jump over the bollards at the Calgary zoo even when he was in his '60's.
He loved his kilt - he wore it at his second Wedding.
He married Anne Handy and her children became his children too.
He had a big heart.
He fumbled a bit - he broke his family when he forgot us. But he made a new family for himself with Ann.
He was called Bill after this.
He cleared land and built himself a new home.
He loved to watch the finches out his back window.
He got sick; he forgot who he used to be.
He kept fighting until it was okay to go.
He died on Friday, November 26th, 2010.
He will be missed.
