Australian English.

The drawing of Papa was done by our son, Paul. as a tribute to his Opa from a photo taken not too long before Papa passed.

This was inspired by all the wonderful Minute Poems I have read today on Fanstory which are tributes to Fathers. (It is not Father's Day here until September).

My sister, brother-in-law, and my husband and I were told by Papa's doctors that at ninety-three, he would not die while we went on a cruise, which we had planned for 2 years. My sister and her husband were my parents' carers, in Amsterdam. They came to Australia to go on our cruise, while another sister took over our parents' care, to give them a well deserved break. As we boarded the ship, my sister and I looked at each other and both had the same thought... Papa had lost the will to live after he had a fall a couple of years earlier, and he had become totally dependent on others. But... his heart was still strong. The doctors insisted he would be alright. So we went. Within a few days we received news that Papa had been rushed to hospital, and my sister and her husband had to fly home. They arrived just in time to say goodbye. We didn't... but we had said goodbye to him to last time we visited, only the previous year. We did this every time we went there, as we never knew if we would see him again.
Although we were sad for us, we were happy that he was finally where he wanted to be... but I did throw my hands up in the air, and with a grin called out 'Papa, why now? Your timing - it's still out!' I felt his triumphant smile... this time he hadn't made us wait.

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