Maximus Leo

My father's legacy

Today it was suppose to be wine tasting day at a colleagues place but because of the lack of interest, it was cancelled! It was disappointed having another Friday night at home! I was so looking forward to the wine tasting sessions. Must be the alcoholic personality in me talking! It's been a long time since I had a binge drinking night! :-)

Anyway, I dragged my ass to work today (yes-Saturday) and worked till quite late tonight. It wasn't so bad considering it was miserable today- wet and windy! Bloody good excuse to stay indoors -not ideal at the office though but it's dry and warm!

There must be a reason for being sober today! I wanted to write something about my father's legacy and have been meaning to this for awhile. So I decided today would be the day!

It's been 5 years since my father has passed on. I can still remember at the hospital talking to him one moment and next he was gone. He died of a heart attack which was not even expected although he has been sick for the last couple of years. It was simply chaos-being the eldest I had to gather my siblings and my mom-which was probably the hardest. Then I had to call my dad's eldest brother. He took care of informing the relatives. Then we had to organise the funeral etc., It was major stress and at the same time we had to deal with the emotional lost as well. We went on for a couple of days without sleeping-running around, doing errands, organising stuff and talking to relatives/friends. At the same time, my mind was going at 100 km per hour - thinking what to do next. Should I quit my job and move back home to keep an eye on my mom and dad's investment portfolios? Or should I move my mom closer to me? There were major decisions to be made in that week and I'm glad I did not! Do you ever believe in dreams? Well - this was the only time I did! That same night, my dad came back to my dreams and he basically told me not to quit my job. And sure enough, I continued working with the same company for the last 5 years now. I have been to a lot of places and in terms of career progression, I can't ask for more. It has been fantastic. I can only thank him for his guidance.

When the funeral was over, I had one day to recover, gathered my strength, made sure mom was alright and flew back to work! And it was budget round! Damn it! I went back straight to work and put my head down and did 12 hours a day for the next 2 weeks. If you want to avoid mourning, that's probably the best medicine! If I looked back, I wish I had taken another 2 weeks off to mourn but then again what good will it do to me! He's gone and no matter how much I grieve for him, he will never come back to me. Cest la vie. Time to grow up!

What I want to capture my thoughts for today is my father's legacy. I'm afraid as time goes by, I may forget his legacy and this will make me a somewhat less than a good person on planet earth. How best to avoid this? Well write them in my blog....

So here is the legacy...

1. That the family is the single best unit to stay together-we are a family of 3 brothers and 1 sister. And never let sibling rivalry get into any arguments.
2. Believe in yourself. We are not born smart. We have to work hard to get where we want to get to. It's all about planing, learning and a little luck!
3. Be fair but be firm.
4. Friends come and go. There are good ones and there are bad ones. You just need to figure out which one.
5. Be generous and kind to others (in fact he was so generous that friends and relatives took advantage of this. So relatives and friends-be warned, I've marked you and you're would be the last one that I have any respect for you!)
6. He loves his food and whenever I have roast pork - I think of him!
7. And black coffee...
8. His favourite smokes - is Rothmans but I don't smoke.
9. He loves gambling - but I don't. (I'm an accountant)
10. He once told me that the only thing that keeps him up at night is trying to find work for his 100 employees at his company! For that I respect him...Not many of the CEOs believe in staff welfare nowadays.

I hope I have captured everything....

Thanks Dad!

posted by Maximus Leo @ 9:19 PM