The Geek shall inherit..

Vale John Greenham

Erin’s stepfather passed away on the 14th March, after a long battle with stomach Cancer. This was his third relapse of the disease, and even though he fought it with the same vigour and testicular fortitude that he had the previous times, this was to be his last. Right up to his last day, he refused to stop lending a hand where it was needed, from fundraising for the local school with the Lions Club, through to helping fellow beekeepers with advice or a hand extracting honey in the extraction plant he designed an built himself. John lived and worked around Dunnedoo, in Central West NSW, about an hour from Dubbo. We had to drive for another 45 minutes to get any GSM reception, so that gives you an idea of exactly how “country” this part of NSW is.
The funeral itself was an agreeably pleasant day, with what looked to be most of the town itself, and surrounding farms attending. Speeches were made, the Lions Club held a guard of honor for John’s coffin, then everyone retired to the church hall for coffee and afternoon tea, organised by the local CWA chapter, which Erin’s mother is a part of. Many people laugh and joke about the CWA and LIONS clubs, but in country towns they play important part of celebrations like this, making small problems disappear and giving families time to grieve and mourn without having to worry about doing things they may not have the time or inclination to worry about.
This also marks the Third installment of our bad news (it does come in threes, no matter how hard you try), so here’s hoping things will improve from here.