New year's resolutions

18/1/2019

Ingrid, Ernie and I have just taken off [I wrote this last week] from Sydney Kingsford Smith, back to Richmond (the old one!) and into 2019.

Into 2019? I know the year is already eight days old but jumping on the plane, ending the vacation, changing the time zone on my watch... it feels like it's time to turn the 'out of office' off and get excited about returning to business. Of course I mean this figuratively. I haven't opened my university email more than a handful of times and my academic 'business' is more focused on global welfare than commercial wealth. I guess by 'returning to business' I really mean returning to standard, non-vacation life.

Our highlight in Australia was seeing David, Ingrid's father. He has been facing a terminal cancer over the past few years and will be the first to tell you: God only knows how much longer he has 'left'. But while he has been 'battling' (all these one-word platitudes!) fiercely he hardly bears the scars of war. Look into his eyes and you will see lucid zeal and equanimity as he prods you to sign the home visitor book, as he contemplates a range of issues from the choice of hymns at his own funeral to the legacy he leaves his family—particularly his grandchildren.

I don't know what Ernesto Pablo will remember about Grandpa' David. I expect it will be more than David imagines. You see, as brother-in-law Mick put it:

'Dad has lived a life characterized by extreme devotion to his duties, and setting the example of honour, character & leadership by his actions.’

As I consider my new year's resolutions—for a year which will surely comprise its fair share of dramatic academic writing, parenting decisions, and medical quandaries—and the meaning of my own life I am inspired by David's emphatic, unwavering commitment to family and duty. Imagine approaching the end of your life and having the ability to (unassumingly but firmly) state 'I never shirked my duty.'

David, I know you have been saying your goodbyes… but you're not quite dead yet!

Do know: your legacy lives on.