Category Archives: Death

Feb 19 0 comments
Death, Friends, Happenings, Life, Memories, Pop culture

Dear James

Originally written on Wednesday 25th January, 2012. Published here in remembrance of a beautiful and loved man.

Dear James,

Thank you for the contribution you have made to my life. I feel blessed for having known you.

When I think of you, I think of someone so creative and with such so much flair. I remember watching Suit Up and being so proud that this little production evolved from the mind of someone I knew. Your skill behind the camera and love of visual mediums is clear.

My earliest memories of our time together, spent mostly in the virtual realm, would be your arrival on OzFreaks. You were a little late to the game. Whilst we were all discussing the ins and outs of Freaks and Geeks you had still not seen all the episodes. You were an Undeclared fan boy and very passionate. JCriquet, as you were known was an articulate and witty individual and soon became a forum regular. I think Adam “Splash”, even labelled you our mascot/cheerleader as you had so much spirit.

Your contributions to our conversations were always welcome. You kept me company many a night when we were both going through our “post-high school where-to-now slump”. I think if there was someone I could guarantee would still be up at 4am it would be you. It was always nice to see your name on the list of online users when I couldn’t sleep and needed a distraction.

One thing that set you apart from the rest of us was that you were always so social. I think whilst some of us resisted for a long time you encouraged meet-ups and helped forge friendships in the “real world”. Your travels around Australia saw you link in with so many of us and you always managed to pack your OzFreaks sweatshirt. An indication of your commitment and love to our cause. I believe that is the only piece of OzFreaks merchandise in existence to this very day.

I was pleasantly surprised when you accepted an invitation to my wedding. It meant a lot to have you there; having travelled from Adelaide for the occasion and you caught my garter also, poor you! I do wonder what became of it. Thanks for being there for me on that important day. You looked so stylish and had the best dance moves on the floor.

You have by now seen how much the news of your illness has affected people. I see that so many of your beloved family and friends have rallied around you and I know that you are so, so loved. I can only hope to have the same level of love and support there for me if and when I need it.

I think of you fondly, always and I wish you much love and strength. Thanks for being a part of my life. My one, only and most loved Adelaidian friend.

Much Love,

Natalie “geekynat” Morgan (van der Loo)

Sep 20 0 comments
Death, Life, Memories

A dog named Darcy – 2000-2011

For me, a pet is a companion. I believe a pet should be treated with love and respect and from that the return will be great. You will never regret opening your heart but if only from the pain of loss.

When we adopted Darcy I was not in a good place. I was deeply depressed. I was anxious. My life was stagnate. He helped lift me. He was my constant. This little dog barely left my side. For whatever reason he chose me to follow. He saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself.

Darcy was adopted from a shelter. My sister and I convinced our Mum to let us get another dog after seeing one advertised in the local newspaper. That particular dog was taken but instead my Mum and sister came home with Darcy.

He wasn’t a young dog, middle aged you might say and he had lived a sad life. He was surrendered to the shelter by an elderly couple that didn’t or couldn’t look after him and later surrendered again by a young couple that didn’t want him. I think it had to do with the fact he had severe allergies. He would be fine and then suddenly it would hit and he would scratch and bite for days on end. He suffered so much but he was so brave. As frustrating as this biting and scratching could be I could never of loved him any less.

Darcy slept on my bed. He sat with me and kept me company when I was sad. He made life bearable. I could hug his soft furry body, this little Shih-Tzu, with a playful nature and forget for even a brief moment my troubles. Darcy would look up at me like I was someone important, just stare up watching my every move, it would melt my heart.

When I moved out it broke me to leave him with my parents. I did. I regret it more now than ever. I feel like I deserted him. He loved me so much. If I could go back to that time I would never have done. I would have convinced my Mother to let me take him. I would have found a rental property that let me have dogs. I guess I had no concept of how little time I really had left with him.

One day he started limping. It seemed to start from nowhere. We thought he had arthritis, he was getting old after all. The vet agreed. However, not long after that diagnosis my Mum found a lump. He had a scan and it was cancer. Fucking cancer. It was an aggressive form. The vet discussed removing his leg. Mum didn’t want this because he was already old and small she didn’t think he could be mobile after the operation. Nor did she want him to have chemotherapy and have his quality of life ruined. She made her choice. My instinct was to do anything and everything but it was not my choice to make.

Darcy became less active over time but he still loved food more than ever. He would even try and play with my sister’s dog Dexter as he had always done. Up until the last time I saw him he wanted to play with his stuffed toy and eat as much as he could. He had grown tired one could see and could not get around so well but I did not expect that he would not be there on my return two weeks later.

Darcy was put down, euthanased, whatever. There were reasons I am sure. I know it is selfish to want to keep something/someone alive because you cannot let go. However, I am not a noble person. I do not want to feel loss or pain. I do not want to experience separation. I want to have my dog, alive. If you could feel my despair when I realised he was missing… well you could only then fully understand what this dog meant to me.

In honour of Darcy, I hope you can find it in your heart to adopt your next pet. Why not give your home and your love to an animal that needs it? Don’t support puppy mills and backyard breeders. Support those animals that are abandoned and need a home.

Farewell Darcy. I love you. I miss you.

Feb 01 0 comments
Death, Family, Happenings

Death and design

I was made responsible for the task of designing the Order of Service booklet for my Pop’s service. I accepted as I didn’t want to see a tacky production distributed to my family and and their friends. Less really is more!

We had an elderly gentleman who thinks comic sans is an appropriate font for a funeral program originally volunteer to design it. I saw samples of his work containing clip art graphics and poorly resized images and I had to step in. Yes, I have standards.

Unfortunately, I am neither a designer or a printer and time is not on my side. What I have produced though seems appropriate enough. I tried for something classic and simple. That’s all you need, some clean lines and a nice font. Very underrated.

I do feel anxiety over this whole event. How do you ever do justice to someone’s life in a booklet containing just a few pages? It is all very hard to handle right now.

Feb 01 0 comments
Death, Family

Colin George Inman Davis August 16th 1930 – January 27th 2011

Pop, I love you and miss you. You’ve been a constant in my life for 29 years and to think there will never be another is difficult. Through every Morgan/Davis family celebration there has always been a place just for you. To think there will be an empty spot now is a loss I will never be able to resolve.

When catching up with Pop we could always depend on him for a story about his great passions in life those being his time spent serving in the Royal Australian Navy followed by his later role as a Court Officer at the Supreme Court of NSW. Amazingly, Pop could always work a story about an aircraft or naval vessel into any conversation. A talent unmatched! He had a great amount of knowledge on the subject. His personal library in those particular areas is vast.

His other love was the law. Pop absolutely adored its processes and rituals. He not only sat in on the cases as was required but he immersed himself in them. He would later recount details at family gatherings to whomever would listen. The love he had of his work was obvious. If only we could all feel such passion in our own careers.

Pop was known amongst the judges at the Supreme Court for the sketches he did which he was proud. He would sit there often during a proceeding and sketch portraits of the judges. He even impressed a judge or two who sourced their own copies of his work for their personal collections. I remember too seeing beautiful landscapes he sketched of Brisbane Water and its surrounds and as a child having him encourage Felicity and I to practice drawing them ourselves. I am lucky to have a sketch that he drew of a much younger me which I will treasure always.

My Pop had a work ethic which was unbelievable. This comes with doing what you love. He worked full time into his 70s until finally he relented and cut back his hours but still he continued to commute over an hour back and forth to Sydney on the train. An activity that challenges even the youngest person. Retirement was something that was forced upon him by necessity. It was not something he did voluntarily. How can one not admire such obvious commitment and passion to his work?

On school holidays, Pop would often plan outings for us as children to visit his beloved Court House or such places as the Art Gallery of NSW. As children we may not have always known how to appreciate such cultural activities but now as I look back I can say we were both lucky to have spent that one-on-one time with him and to share in a small part of what he loved.

Pop too was always the joker. He was the master of the inappropriate comment. On the very last day that I saw him in hospital he made a remark to his nurse that he once had a nurse that would check his temperature by kissing him on the forehead as if to hint she should do that too. It was so marvellous to be able to share a laugh with my Pop. He lifted the sombre mood so effortlessly. His clarity of mind in a body that was failing him just floored me.

To my Pop – I love you. You’ve lead an amazing life, the layers of which are so complex and varied I could never do them justice. I am proud to call you my grandfather and you will live on in my very being always and forever for I am as much a Davis as I am a Morgan. All my love forever.