Rachel
Before I could walk, Dad put me in a carrier and with matching bucket hats he took me walking along Bowen Road. He worked in finance, so weekends always included a father-daughter activity. As I got older these activities became hiking, tennis, bike riding and sometimes even watching musicals (my choice).
Even after long days at work, Dad would come watch me play sport or debates. He met all my teachers and was a chauffeur to my friends. He went to multiple university open days, even attending the classes to help me choose what to study.
My dreams were his dreams.
When I started working and moved out of home, Dad and I had lunch every week. We talked about investment trends, politics and all the challenges I was facing in the early parts of my career (like father, like daughter, I also work in finance). My Dad stood faced the world with me, always with a smile and words of advice.
One Saturday in 2022, walking along the same Bowen Road, my world stopped.
I will never forget the cry from my mum on the other end of the phone. Without any warning Dad’s heart had suddenly stopped beating. I turned to my friend and said, “I’m not ready for a world without my Dad.”
But, life had other plans. Dad prepared me for everything in life, except for a world without him.
It took six months to process his autopsy and still there were no answers. Not that anything would justify my Dad being taken from me in my twenties.
As an only child whose parents moved away from their own families for their careers, I found myself incredibly alone. No guide map and no one who could understand my titanic loss, everyone else still had their Dads.
TNN gave me the community I so desperately needed. People who understand let me breathe again. They gave me the space to talk about my Dad to keep his memory and spirit alive
My grief is Dad’s voice in my head, the weight on my shoulders and the hole in my heart. No matter how much time passes, I will always carry my Dad with me to live the dreams we worked so hard for.
It took me almost a year to go back to Bowen Road and like many other places that hold happy memories, I go there and I feel a little closer to my dad.
