fathers day thoughts

i hope those of you lucky enough to still have your fathers   have remembered  them  today,Fathers day.  my dad died when i was  18        he was  just 53,   died from a heart attack.    in those days   we    (like the majority  of  working class families in those days  did'nt have a telephone,   so  when at around 3.30 in the morning i was woken  by mum shouting   that  dad  was  in terrible pain,  pains  in chest  and  down arms,   i had to peddle nearly a mile down the road  to the public  telephone  box.  i  rang our family doctor,   Dr.Meanly    he  was  70  then i'd  guess,   rather  blunt  to say the least,  but  a  good dr.   i  said,dads  in terrible pain,chest,arms.etc.   he  said,well tell him to take  2 aspirin and i will look in  in morning.   okkkk        don't argue  with  dr he knows  best.   so  i got on  bike  and  pedalled  back home,   just  as  i was  telling  mum  what  he had  said,a car pulled up  and  the  dr  knocked  on  door.   after  he put  phone  down  he  thought        pains  in chest??  arms??   oh  hell   and  jumped  into car.   bearing  in mind  he lived  at  foulsham   the next village,2 and  half  miles away     he  mustve  drove  like a madman   lol.   he  examined  dad       and  said  he  has had a heart attack,  not a  very serious  one,but  a heart attack   nevertheless,  he  gave dad an injection   which  sent  him to sleep       and  said  would call in in morning.   off  back to his  bed  he went.   me  and  mum  sat  talking  and  drinking  tea,  until  my  bloody alarm clock  suddenly  went  off,  it  was  6.30    on  the  saturday  before august  bank  holiday   1971       i  was working   at  an ironmongers,( previous  entry  somewhere,)  and  had  set  my alarm.  i  ran  to my bedroom  and  stopped  it,   but  dad  woke.   we  looked  in,   he  said  the pain  had  eased        and  dozed  back  off.    mum and  i  went  back   to  the  lounge,   and  we  had  hardly  sat  down  when   we  heard  an awful  noise.    dad  had  had  a massive  heart  attack,    and  died   at 6.42    the  noise  was  the  "death  rattle"    and  i would  rather  never  hear  it again.       although  i knew  he had  gone,i  ran  up to  our  friends  house    100 yards   has  never  seemed  so far    dr. mathers       a  lovely  old  gentleman  of  the  old  school,   very  polite,well spoken.  a retired  anaesthatist         i   knocked  on  his  door,he  came  still in pyjamas,   listened  to   my  frantic  dads  dea..........and  was  off  like  lightening.   he  was  getting  on  for  70            but  he beat  me  back         easily.    he  tried   giving   CPR    and  kiss  of life,  to  no avail.         my  dad was  dead.       later i ramg  the  doctor     and  told  him      dad  is  dead             and  got  a  rather  abrupt,how  the  hell  do  you  know?  are  you  a  doctor?  im on  my way.    i  explained   dr  mather  had  said  he  was  gone,   which  rather  shut  him  up  lol          my dad.Geoffrey Cecil Lake   aged   53   rest in peace  dad.

i  cant  pretend  i was  that  close  to  my  father      i  was  always  a  "mummys boy"lol    but  he worked  bloody   hard    and  although  we  were'nt well off   he did his best to provide  for  mum  and  me.      a  good  man,  not  very  demonstrative     but  i know  he  loved  me.      sad  thing  though        and  one  i  bitterly  regret       the  night  before  he died          we  had  had  a  blazing  row.  i  wanted  to buy a motor bike      and  he  did'nt  want  me  too.    daft  row.    but  he died          without  me saying      sorry  dad.   so,   if  any  of  you  have  fallen out  with  your  fathers        don't leave  it  too late,  say  sorry  dad         or  one  day         you  may  regret  it  to.

  take  care  all