Thursday, 11 June 2026
ONE YEAR ON - REMEMBERING GERRY...
13 comments:
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Yeah, it's a tad disconcerting the relentless march of time. You have people in your life and to some extent think that they'll always be there, until they leave this mortal coil. But time continues on leaving you to adjust to a world without them in it. My Dad passed away over a year ago now and it's a sobering thought that, even though we were not that close he can no longer be reached at the end of a telephone call or his wellbeing mentioned in chats with other family members. He lived two hours away so not as I could just nip around the corner to see him and for most of his almost 91 years was in pretty good health. Hard to take in that he's been gone for over a year now.
ReplyDeleteSo your parents moved out to the States, PC? Apologies if you mentioned it before, but my memory isn't firing on all cylinders these days. Like you say, we think things and people are always going to be the same, and it's disheartening when we find out they're not and that we have to soldier on without them.
DeleteNo my parents were still in Australia, my Mum was lost to us in a car accident in 1988 but my Dad stayed in the town where we lived and a lifetime of smoking, even though he eventually gave up (after three tries) finally caught up with him. Glad I never took up the habit!
ReplyDeleteAh, I remember now. You live in Australia, T47 lives in America. I was getting your countries mixed up. Honestly, my memory gets worse and worse. I've never smoked, never drank alcohol, and never taken drugs - and I make all my own dresses. (That last part is a joke of course.)
DeleteIs Phillip really sure that his father died aged nearly 91 because "a lifetime of smoking finally caught up with him"? At nearly 91 he could have died of simple old age with smoking having nothing to do with it. My father smoked 20 a day and he died aged 71 but his death was caused by high blood pressure which was totally unrelated to smoking.
ReplyDeleteI think smoking is bound to have had some kind of effect on him, CJ (as it does on everybody), though it probably affects different people at different ages in their lives. Smoking is hardly beneficial, is it?
DeleteYes Colin, the cause of death was related to smoking (issues with his lungs caused by smoking, so the doctor said), but even so to make it to the age he did despite that 'ticking time bomb' he was carrying was remarkable.
ReplyDeleteRemarkable indeed, PC, smoking has a lot to answer for. Glad I've never smoked, apart from passively, that is.
DeleteMy maternal grandmother was treated for cancer when she was about 74 even though she'd never smoked a cigarette in her life so I'm wary of the claims that smoking causes cancer - perhaps a smoker who gets cancer would have got cancer regardless. My grandmother died aged 78 but not from cancer. I've never smoked by the way so I'm not defending smoking!
ReplyDeleteThere are other things that cause cancer as well, CJ - no one is saying that smoking is the only cause of cancer. However, even cigarette packets state that smoking causes cancer, so it's a well-accepted fact that it does - or at least can. And don't forget that passive smoking can also cause cancer, so even if you've never smoked in your life, you could still get cancer from being around those who do. So what I'm saying is that you're talking mince again.
DeletePassive smoking causing cancer is completely unproven, Kid. I accept that active smoking COULD cause cancer but, as you say, lots of things can cause cancer such as a poor diet or alcohol abuse. Cigarette packets say SMOKING CAUSES CANCER as if it was 100% certain which it definitely isn't. Winston Churchill smoked cigars his entire adult life and died aged 90 but not from cancer!
ReplyDeleteDunno where you're getting your 'facts' from, CJ, but a quick search of the Internet tells me that passive smoking significantly increases the risk of lung cancer as there are 5000 chemicals in tobacco, many of which are harmful. There are 16 different types of cancer, two of the most common being lung and bowel cancer. Winston was hardly the epitome of physical perfection and may have been a lot healthier had he never smoked. Some people are more susceptible than others, and just because smoking MIGHT not have given ol' Winston cancer, that doesn't mean it wouldn't with others. So I'm afraid you're still talking mince, CJ, as even a cursory search of the Internet demonstrates.
DeleteAnd Winston suffered multiple strokes throughout his life, CJ, and it's a fact that smoking can significantly increase the risk of them. So smoking didn't exactly do him any good, did it? Who knows, if he'd lived a little longer, he might have got cancer.
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