Mum's passing...

[Tassie Devil]

Jan and I took to the road and headed North to Queensland to visit my ailing Mum.
Mum passed away before we got home and the funeral is today.

We have decided to relocate to be with Dad and rent our home in Tasmania.

Here are a few thoughts about a Grand old Girl...


Mum was an elegant lady and loved entertaining. Nothing pleased her more than to lay out a beautifully prepared spread of food on the balcony overlooking the Islands of Keppel Bay, enjoying the company of her many friends and the Rotaryannes who visited Mum every year.
As youngsters Keith, Elaine and I were transported to a holiday wonderland that was Emu Park in the ‘50’s. Mum’s parents, Harold and Daisy, her brothers, Laurie and John and our Aunties Jean, Gloria and Gwen all took turns at spoiling us rotten. We enjoyed the rituals of lighting the big old mantle lamp, cutting firewood for the combustion stove, playing Bobs on the dining room table, watching the steam trains come in to the gas lit station and taking part in the fishing expeditions.
These were the days of Tiger mullet cooked in beef dripping, fresh mud-crabs and kerosene tins filled with piping hot prawns on fresh bread washed down with a bowl of hand churned ice-cream. Can you just imagine the hue and cry that the dietary spoil-sports of today would utter? We were all young and fit and extremely happy to be part of such a loving and nurturing environment.
Back home in Rocky, Mum ensured the well-being of the family came first. We were all provided with the opportunity for us to join various sporting and social clubs and our school lunches were the stuff of legend. Home made pies would set the scene and maybe a meringue slice to top it off…. No wonder our friends fought each other to join us after school for a quick snack.
Mum loved company and this trait rubbed off on us kids. Anyone who visited would be invited in for a meal or a bed for the night, much to the amusement of various Doctors, tradesmen or the local bum.
The only time I can remember not enjoying one of Mum’s meals was when I returned home after nine months of Naval sea duty with a Supply Officer who feloniously obtained a shipment of cheap pork which the ship’s company was forced to consume for the entire voyage. On my return home Mum decided to treat me to a special dish… you guessed it… Pork Chops!!!
Mum was also a keen sports woman and played social tennis into her seventies with my wife’s Mother, Marie Manly. In fact, and I can’t prove this, but I strongly suspect they hatched a plan, on the tennis court, to arrange our wedding… The latest State of Origin Rugby League triumph by the Queensland Cane Toads would have pleased her immensely.
Mum had her share of sorrow with the illness of our youngest brother, Gary being struck down with Meningitis as an infant, leaving him crippled and in a virtual coma for life.
It is very hard to say goodbye and we don't want to, but we need to remember that she touched so many people's lives, so positively. Joyce leaves an amazing legacy behind and she left the world a better place than when she found it and for that we will always be grateful, and her legacy lives on today and into the future with her eight grand-children and nine great-grand-children.
Joyce Woodville Fleming, we miss you - but we remember you fondly - always!


Thanks for your time Guys..

Cheers,

JQ.

[1MPH]

JQ, Please accept my sympathy at the lost of your Mum.
Sounds like you have many happy memories to keep her spirit alive.
She sounds like a woman I would have liked.
RIP.

[Deans BMW]

JQ, our deepest condolences. RIP to your most elegant mum.

[rt100vt]

So sorry for the loss of your mum, JQ. It's nice that you can be with your dad during this time.
And thanks for sharing those sweet sentiments of your mum with this tradesman.
She'd be proud, I'm sure.

Rob

[mnnden]

JQ, Sorry to hear of your loss. Thank You for sharing your thoughts, a wonderful tribute to a wonderful person. Den

[Rchop]

So sorry to hear of your Mum's passing JQ. It appears from your writing that she will be fondly remembered by many. We will pray for strength for you and your family to get through these difficult times. Thanks for sharing the story so we can think of her with a smile also.

[DarthRider]

Thank you John Quincy, for telling us the story of Joyce Woodville Fleming. She reminds me of the tough, strong, sweet, nurturing, kind & loving Texas women I have been blessed by knowing, and having as my relations and friends.
Your Mum reminds me very much of my own and the sorrow of her passing several years ago. And the sweet memories she left. They left.
A "Grand old Girl" indeed...a couple of them.

JQ, I have a favorite poet & philosopher, Kahlil Gibran. Perhaps you have read his works or heard of him. He was a very spiritual man and had much to say about many important things in our journeys, including the death of loved ones.

I hope these thoughts of his bring comfort and honor Mum's memory.


"I existed from all eternity and, behold, I am here; and I shall exist till the end of time, for my being has no end."


And, from his book, "The Prophet"...

On Death
Kahlil Gibran

You would know the secret of death.
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?
The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.
If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.
For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.


In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;
And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.
Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.
Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king
whose hand is to be laid upon him in honour.
Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king?
Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?


For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides,
that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?


Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.

[JCsman]

Very sorry for your loss JQ. But am also very happy to read how you were blessed with her presence all those years. She sounds like she was quite the gal.

[vintagemxr]

JQ, you have my sincerest condolences on the loss of your dear mum. May she rest in peace.

Doug

[Capt. Blackadder]

John Quincy, thanks for sharing the story of your wonderful mum and please accept my heartfelt condolences. You were indeed a lucky boy to have her. All the best to you and the whole family.

Cheers mate,
Baldur

[Sir Limpsalot]

What a wonderful tribute to your mum. I'll bet she was as proud of you as you, plainly, were of her. Really sorry for your loss mate.

Simon.

[Tassie Devil]

Thanks so very much fellas...
I'm proud to be part of this little cafe' of ours.
You are family through and through...

Cheers,

JQ.

[Dirty Doug]

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints on snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn rain
When you awaken in the morning hush
I an the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight
I am the soft stars at night
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there. I did not die

Ashley Morris


JQ,
Know that you are in my thoughts and prayers. Great people never leave us and I'm sure your Mom will always be with you.


Your friend,

Doug Bunch

[Boxerboy]

So sorry to hear this JQ. Your mum sounds like a wonderful lady. I hope your dad is doing as well as he can be, and I'm guessing your decision to Travel North will reap many benefits for him. Well done.

[panthercity]

JQ, may The Good Lord take and hold her in His Loving Arms.

[Arby]

JQ

What a wonderful eulogy for your mother! I'm glad that you have such wonderful memories of her and the life she lived.

God bless you for honoring your dear mother and father.

RB

[Gord]

JQ - my condolences to you and your family. My Mum passed in 1979 when I was 21 years old and just about to head out into my own life. Leaving my Dad on his own was the hardest thing I have had to do (I was the last of 5 kids at home). I am sure your father will appreciate what you are doing to support him in this trying time.

[Donson]

JQ, I was out in Wyoming on My bike when You posted this, and I just saw it...My deepest sympathies on the passing of Your Mom, She sounds like quite a Woman. I will give My Mom an extra hug today when I see Her.