We attended a dance here in Queensland yesterday and was informed while there our dear friend in Adelaide had passed away as a result of a trip / fall . He and his wife were our good friends who survived Covid , only to taken by a fall . They always came up to Coolangatta each year for 3 months to escape the bone chilling winter winds we get in South Aust. ( he always drove up the 2.200 km each way so they had their wheels to get to dances ) We always had a party for his birthday at a huge golf club on the tweed river some 10 km from where we stay at Coolangatta ( and where we are right now ) Both Ray and Marg were super fit and only gave dancing away after Marg had a trip / fall and cracked her hip at 99 years old ( a year ago ) Ray would have turned 101 years old next month ..Marg has just turned 100 years old and they would have been married 79 years next Feb. They still attended dance functions even tho they were no longer dancing so we still caught up with them regularly ,as well as my DH would put funnies they liked onto discs for then to watch so we’d call in and say hello . Ray still had his drivers licence to drive a car.
I'm sorry to hear that. One of the perils of our age is that we experience the loss of so many of those who mean the most to us before we become a statistic.
I'm sorry to hear of this, Kate. I went through a period several years ago where I attended 6 funerals (and was pallbearer at 2) in rapid succession. It hits too close to home. But to live to be 100 is quite the accomplishment.
Ray was a sharp as a tack , he was a man who loved telling you Non racist / Non sex type jokes , he’d come up to us and say have I told you the one about ……what ever …he’d have us in stitches laughing at his funnies …. we will miss him Before Marg hurt her hip we’d swap a dance , We would not only swap partners ……. …but we’d also swap sides , so us ladies would do the man’s steps ….. ( its common when you know someone reasonably well to share a dance )…. ..but not the part where we used to swap side's….. it was totally confusing till you get the hang of it
So sweet and precious they looked. Very nice tribute to them also @Kate Ellery - so sorry for your loss of these great friends.
Thank you everyone. Marg will be taken care of by their 5 children , who are all retired and on aged pensions themselves ….not to many people still have their parents long after retirement age. Ray always referred to his 4 daughters as the “ Petticoat police “ as they always nagged Ray for driving up to Queensland each winter , but he would have a strict driving test every year and was always given approval to keep his drivers licence. The dance club I spoke to yesterday said Ray would be having a post-mortem as he shouldn’t have died from the fall .
Exactly what actor Dabbs Greer said in "The Green Mile." Living a long time includes experiencing the loss of many loved ones & friends.
Yes fully agree, being involved in seniors group ( Ballroom dancing ) sadly we experience it fairly often . I was shocked to be told just how many involved in the dancing here in Queensland had died , since we’d last been up here in (2019) you dare not say where’s …say Brian ..today … Many from our group in S.A used to be up here the same time …..year after year ……( winter time in Aussie land ) we were at the club yesterday where we’d all dance ….we were the only ones from South Aust there.
The club here in QLD where we used to dance , it’s what’s called the Returned Services league club (RSL) However it’s mores like a casino now days with 100’s poker machines
I think of that when I hear of folks who are in the 90+ age range. I cannot imagine being in my 70s or 80s and still have living parents. I attended a church where there was 6 generations of women in the congregation. They all had their first child when they were 15 years old. When the eldest passed, her granddaughter was in her early 60s.