Dad #54 #cong24 #legacy

Reading Time in Minutes

2

1. The Business of Death.
2. Ancestral expectation.
3. Ex-pat dilemma.
4. Legacy of a sandwiched generation.

Tenor, Teacher, Educator, Award Winning Vocal & Executive Presence to the Corporate Sector & Educator of Chakras & Guided Meditation.

Born & raised on a sheep & cattle property on the foreshores of Lake Burrendong near Mumbil in Central Western NSW, some 400km north west of Sydney. Educated at Shore in Sydney, a year as an Exchange Student in Switzerland, a decade in Travel Sector before studying voice at Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music in the U.K.. Subsequently successfully auditioned for The Royal Opera Covent Garden’s Young Artist Programme where spent 2002-2004. Freelancer ever since. Only Australian with more than 200 performances at Covent Garden over the last 20 years.
Performances also in Adelaide, Amsterdam, Bergen, Bregenz, Brisbane, Dortmund, Dublin, Geneva, Helsinki, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Sydney, Tel Aviv & Toronto amongst others.

Lives with family in Castlebar. Teaches & consults from home. Online & in person clients in Australia, U.K. & Ireland.

Currently reading ‘Be a Better Ancestor’ series by Irish born, Sydney based lawyer, Donal Griffin of Legacy Law.

You can see contact Hubert via email or see his work on Hubert Francis.

By Hubert Francis

A380 kisses the midwinter tarmac of a Sydney dawn. Connecting flight over scarred sandstone outcrops smothered in eucalypts giving way to green expanses of winter crops.

Strange embraces, emotions new for Dad’s gone. A legacy pondered.

Almost a century in one homestead, one farm, droughts, floods, plagues, wars, atomic bombs, landing on the moon, Hitler, Imperial Japan, Churchill, Kennedy, Vietnam, Whitlam, bushfires, rites of passage celebrated, acknowledged on a verandah in searing heat, before an open fire, biting frost promising outside.

Our eulogies two. Siblings reflect and interpret. Values, principles, trust, dear loyal friends, boarding school, jobs, travel to four continents. Great Wall of China, Zimbabwe, Grand Canyon & London’s Imperial War Museum.

The odd pride and shadow of being fathered by a decorated war hero. An overlooked traumatised generation forgotten & pinched between those who shared World Wars.

Oh Dad, so many occasions bidding farewell. Ex-pat embracing, clasping a parent. Gnawing ‘last time’ question.

Your clothes, cards, coins, photos, ancestors & belongings. Transitions from youth to grave. Evocative scents. Surprises & memories many. Hug Mum. Hug Mum again.

Will, Hospital, Death Notice, Crematorium, Funeral Director, Order of Service, Death Certificate, Solicitor, Accountant, Bank, certified copies, emails, call centres, lists, thank-you cards, we do it differently, terse words, tension, laughter, love, goodbyes.

October return. 777 rolls the damp Dublin tarmac. Bus through Port Tunnel & up the Quays for Westport train from Heuston. Hugs in Castlebar. Home ?