November A Time To Remember

I wrote this Eulogy for my dad, a year ago when he passed.
Thought I would share this.

To say goodbye to Charlie is not easy. He built a farm. He worked hard. He affected so many of us in so many ways over his 95 years. He has changed many of our lives.
This day is a day of mourning for the passing of Charlie Hayes, of saying goodbye, but it is more to honor him and celebrate his life. While he has departed from us in body, his spirit and memories live on.
On special family occasions and holidays, there was always the ice cream maker, Mom would mix the ingredients into the cylinder, Dad would take it, very carefully put the machine together, put in the correct amount of ice and salt, and he would crank it by hand, we were to small to keep that constant speed, so we would watch patiently till it was done. Later on when we were big enough to take turns cranking, he would always disappear and listen to us talk about how it should be done, from the other room.
In the winter on Sundays he would sit by the heater and read the paper, his feet were always very ticklish, as kids we would tickle his feet, just when he was about to fall asleep, he would always say (you kids cut it out), always a favorite saying of his.
Charlie had trouble with his stomach, always snored very loud, funny thing his stomach didn’t bother him, and he never snored the day he sold the cows and quit driving the school bus, he also stopped smoking at 65 years of age.
Charlie had a ulcer attack when he was working cutting brush at Green Water, he came home all bent over in pain, neighbors took him to the hospital, he was in the hospital for three weeks, our wood pile was low, hayloft was empty, neighbors showed up with wagon boxes full of wood and helped us kids and Mom fill the hayloft
Dad and Mom were always watching out for friends and neighbors, as friends and neighbors did for them, it’s just the way it’s done, and that’s all there is to it. Dad helping them thresh, bale. Mom would bake that special something if someone was in sorrow. As kids we always had the best decorated cakes and cookies to take to school.
Charlie was always very inventive and creative; a lot of it was dew to the lack of finances. When he was working for Uncle Alf at Green Water in the 30’s, he got tired of rowing people around the lake to give them rides, so he put a Model T engine in a big boat, probably Green Waters first boat with inboard motor.
He built a plywood boat in the 1950’s so he could take us kids fishing and camping. His favorite boat was the one he built from two old boats he bought, one had a rotten front the other a rotten back, tore them apart and built one. When he was finished the out side shone of its colors, the inside sparkled from varnished wood. Boats are for fishing, not planters.
He pulled that boat all over Saskatchewan fishing with friends, at every lake he and Mom could find.
He needed a lawnmower, so he made the deck from a piece of three quarter inch plywood, bolted on wheels from a baby carriage, fenders from a old truck to keep the grass from hitting your feet, a leaf spring sharpened for a blade, a old water pump for bearings to mount the blade on, and a (Iron horse) kick start washing machine motor to drive it, a two by four handle and away you go. One day the hedge needed trimming so he mounted that lawn mower on a couple of two by fours Rick and Dad put the two by fours on their shoulders and they walked down either side of the hedge.
Remember Dad getting the ticket because he told Lorna to take the car, to drive a friend home; she had no driver’s license; He said it was the only ticket he ever got.
Remember the day Dad came home with five ducks from Herbert’s pond, he waited and waited, till they were all lined up, he got them all, one shot.
There was always deer meat to eat; --some of it was at strange times of the year. -- It must have been because of our icehouse.
Remember the bear, that Mom was picking Saskatoon’s on one side of the tree, she thought it was Charlie she was talking to, until she moved around the tree and seen the bear, she hollered at Charlie and he came running with the rifle, he always packed around in the car the truck and on the Fortson Major. Rick and Dad went after the bear shot it, ----Dad did have a little exposure--, we skinned it out and kept the hindquarters, Mom cooked a roast, told Uncle Jack it was beef, --until after supper.
Dad and Mom loved to travel, they wore out a motor home, they went on numerous trips with family; Lorna and Gary took them on a month trip to Alaska also traveled to eastern Canada. Gloria and David took them on trips to Hawaii, Florida. Gloria took Dad on his first trip to Australia in 1997.
Charlie loved to put a hook and line in the water. He probably has fished with most of the people in this hall today. If you haven’t fished with him, he has probably told you a fishing story or two. When we went on our yearly father and son’s fishing trips, he would never have his regular afternoon nap because he was afraid he would miss something, so we would fish, cook, we would get him to tell us stories, he always looked forward to our midnight fish fries, but
Not until a dozen games of crib were played.
In August of 2006 at the age of 92, I asked him if he wanted a ride in my Ultra light tike, expecting him to say no, he said sure, he said what is the worst that can happen I’m 92 years old, it didn’t mater how old he was, or what it was, he wanted to give anything a try, I think that describes Dad’s attitude towards life. So I got him strapped in. Oh by the way, if you didn’t know, that’s him in the memorial card; he would probably say he finally made it to the Centerfold. We flew over our house at Stony Plain Alberta, the coal mine where I work, saw the draglines and shovels, also Lake Wabaman where the train derailment oil spill had happened, and the oil booms were out soaking up the oil. We had an hour and half flight. He thoroughly enjoyed it.
Charlie’s wood working skills as you can see, on this display table, was something he loved to do, and he had a great talent for. No piece of wood went to waste, as we found out when we cleaned up the farm.
When Mom passed in 2004 he decided he would build his own urn. So he thought about it for a couple of years, he knew he; didn’t really need it yet. Besides he had to do one more trip to Australia in 2006, he went with Lorna, Gary and Darryl. Then this year he decided it was time to start building the urn. This past summer he worked on his project. We all know how his eye site was, but there he was with a hundred pieces of half-inch square wood of different colors that he had cut on the table saw and glue on his fingers feeling his way through his project. As you can see, his loving hands and his sole shines through the beauty of the wood.
Thanks to Gary and Rick for putting some finishing touches on it.
After Mom had passed away, I was telling a friend of mine about her passing, my eyes filled with tears, he told me something that I will never forget, simple yet very true.
(WHAT IS IN YOUR HEART-- LEAKS OUT YOUR EYES)
Now I would like to share this poem.

God looked around his garden
And He found an empty space;
And saw your tired face.
He put his arms around you
And lifted you to rest;
God’s garden must be beautiful,
He only takes the best,
He knew that you were suffering,
He knew you were in pain
He knew you might never
Get well on earth again,
He saw the road was getting rough
And the hills were hard to climb,
So He closed your weary eyelids
And whispered, “Peace be thine.”
It broke our hearts to lose you
But you never went alone,
For part of us went with you
The day God called you home.

Anonymous poet

For Dad and Mom for now they are together again.
Thank you from the kids Gloria, Rick, Lorna, Max
Thank God for my growing up with Charlie and Joyce, my parents.
Sifu Hayes www.silentriverkungfu.com Stony Plain Alberta Canada