Here in a couple of sentences are morals or ethics that should be a natural common sense attitude. Do unto others are you would expect to do unto you.
Just this week, I had a very close family friend pass away unexpected, Although I hadn’t spoken to him in a very long time, he was still as close a friend as he was when we saw him on a daily basis. Dad went down to Brisbane for his funeral on our behalf, I sent a letter with dad to give to the family, to let them know how much of an impact he made on our lives, I wanted to celebrate the good times, so below is a copy of what I sent to the family. If you have access to my blog, then, you are a friend and I would like to share with you, Albert…
Uncle Albert
Albert, Uncle Albert, was a pillar in our lives for so many years. He was just that, an Uncle, he watched out for our family since I was about five. One of the things that come to mind is when we would all go to the boat club we belonged to on South Stradbroke, we would all sit reminiscing around the fire and playing cards, just having fun together. While we were there once, Albert needed his radio from his boat, as the boat was out a little, Albert came down to help, so, I passed the radio to him then dived into the water for a swim, Albert thought that I was falling, droped the radio in the water to try and catch me, in the end we were all wet, radio and all. Can you believe, a bit of RP7 and it was still working for many years after. Another time, was when I changed schools, the day I was to catch the bus for the first time, there was Albert, he had just bought the bus run that I was to catch. Then in High School, there were days when there was a chance of flooding, Albert would come to the school in the mini bus and take us home early, at times Albert would have, Louise, Rebecca or myself, out in front of the bus to check the depth of the water. In 1989 when we sold our house to the water board, we had to move up to Tamborine Mountain while we waited for mum to sell her hair salon. For me to get to high school, I had to get a bus at 5.30am to get me to Tambourine Village, then wait an hour to catch the school bus to travel another hour to school, the week before I had to catch the mountain bus, Albert took over that run.
These are only a couple of stories of our lives with Albert and Laura, but what I’m trying to convey here, is how much of a huge part Albert played in our lives. He was a gentle giant who came across a monster at times (on the buses), but he was a huge softy that couldn’t do enough for others. Life has been very bumpy at times with tragedies, highs and lows, life isn’t all good, but what I do know is that having Albert in our lives, life has been so much the richer.
When we moved to Adelaide, there was distance between our families and lives became hectic, but we always knew that Albert and yourself were always there if we needed you. Times when we did catch up, it was as if no time had passed, and I am only sad that you aren’t here anymore and we will miss you very much. You don’t always know what you are missing until it is gone. Albert always made Mum, Dad, Darren and myself feel special, important, that we were good people. So many times over the years mum and dad had to turn to Albert and yourself for advice and you both were always straight and we all knew he would tell it how it was.
So, to Laura and the family, just know that he was a hero to us all and we will miss him very much. Celebrate the good times, I know that is how he would have liked it.
All our hopes, dreams and wishes are with you
Michelle Van Dyk (Hargrave), John, Kathy and Darren and Families
Ps. I send this down with Dad, we all wish we could be there for you, to Celebrate all of Alberts achievements.
Albert, Uncle Albert, was a pillar in our lives for so many years. He was just that, an Uncle, he watched out for our family since I was about five. One of the things that come to mind is when we would all go to the boat club we belonged to on South Stradbroke, we would all sit reminiscing around the fire and playing cards, just having fun together. While we were there once, Albert needed his radio from his boat, as the boat was out a little, Albert came down to help, so, I passed the radio to him then dived into the water for a swim, Albert thought that I was falling, droped the radio in the water to try and catch me, in the end we were all wet, radio and all. Can you believe, a bit of RP7 and it was still working for many years after. Another time, was when I changed schools, the day I was to catch the bus for the first time, there was Albert, he had just bought the bus run that I was to catch. Then in High School, there were days when there was a chance of flooding, Albert would come to the school in the mini bus and take us home early, at times Albert would have, Louise, Rebecca or myself, out in front of the bus to check the depth of the water. In 1989 when we sold our house to the water board, we had to move up to Tamborine Mountain while we waited for mum to sell her hair salon. For me to get to high school, I had to get a bus at 5.30am to get me to Tambourine Village, then wait an hour to catch the school bus to travel another hour to school, the week before I had to catch the mountain bus, Albert took over that run.
These are only a couple of stories of our lives with Albert and Laura, but what I’m trying to convey here, is how much of a huge part Albert played in our lives. He was a gentle giant who came across a monster at times (on the buses), but he was a huge softy that couldn’t do enough for others. Life has been very bumpy at times with tragedies, highs and lows, life isn’t all good, but what I do know is that having Albert in our lives, life has been so much the richer.
When we moved to Adelaide, there was distance between our families and lives became hectic, but we always knew that Albert and yourself were always there if we needed you. Times when we did catch up, it was as if no time had passed, and I am only sad that you aren’t here anymore and we will miss you very much. You don’t always know what you are missing until it is gone. Albert always made Mum, Dad, Darren and myself feel special, important, that we were good people. So many times over the years mum and dad had to turn to Albert and yourself for advice and you both were always straight and we all knew he would tell it how it was.
So, to Laura and the family, just know that he was a hero to us all and we will miss him very much. Celebrate the good times, I know that is how he would have liked it.
All our hopes, dreams and wishes are with you
Michelle Van Dyk (Hargrave), John, Kathy and Darren and Families
Ps. I send this down with Dad, we all wish we could be there for you, to Celebrate all of Alberts achievements.
Back to the point of me writing this blog. I had just received this email, that was in a chain mail form, but, The Moral of the story really touched me. So below I have edited the email to get out to you the meaning…
We all know or knew someone like this!!
One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school.His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, "Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd." I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on. As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes. My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye. As I handed him his glasses, I said, "Those guys are jerks." They really should get lives." He looked at me and said, "Hey thanks!" There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude. I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before. He said he had gone to private school before now. I would have never hung out with a private school kid before. We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends. He said yes. We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him. Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again. I stopped him and said, "Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday! " He just laughed and handed me half the books. Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends.. When we were seniors we began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown and I was going to Duke. I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor and I was going for business on a football scholarship. Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd. He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak Graduation day, I saw Kyle. He looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him. Boy, sometimes I was jealous! Today was one of those days. I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, "Hey, big guy, you'll be great!" He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. " Thanks," he said. As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began "Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends...I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story." I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile."Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable." I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize it's depth.
Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person's life. For better or for worse. God puts us all in each others lives to impact one another in some way. Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.
"There is no beginning or end..
Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is a mystery.
Today is a gift.
So, STOP Reading this!!! Go out and make an impact on someone or something...GO!!!
