100% Locally Owned, Independent and Free

100% Locally Owned, Independent and Free

Ashley Robinson: showtime brings memories of Dad's death and regrets about things left unsaid

Do you have a news tip? Click here to send to our news team.

Couple appeals refusal of beachfront rebuild plans

An appeal has been launched in the Planning and Environment Court after a council rejected a couple’s bid to redevelop their beachfront property. Linda and More

Sunshine Coast back on top for regional migration

The Sunshine Coast has reclaimed its position as Australia’s number one regional migration destination for people moving from capital cities. The rapidly growing beach haven More

Ashley Robinson: Foiled again on the home front

I have written about retirement before and the implications it may have for me spending more time at home with Old Mate. There have been More

Photo of the day: blood moon

This photo of a rare blood moon on was captured by Dick Midgley in the early hours of September 8. If you have a photo More

Work about to start on plugging gaps in island

Emergency work is about to begin on filling two gaps in an island off the Sunshine Coast. A site compound is being established at Golden More

Toilets remain closed as authorities trade blame

The public toilets at one of the Coast’s main bus stations have been closed for months, reportedly due to vandalism, but the levels of More

Every year, around this time, I write about how the Nambour Show has a special place in my heart as my dad died on the Saturday of the show.

This year, they tricked me as the show is a week earlier than normal, so as you read this it’s over and, hopefully, was a resounding success.

So, usually I would have gone into the circumstances of Dad’s death but instead I thought I would share some advice, a bit like a Dear Dorothy Dix letter.

Now here is the thing – the night he died I got a call from a mate of his to get to the hospital.

I remember very clearly that I knew he was gone way before I got there and I kept saying to my dear wife that there were so many things I wished I had said, done and shared with him, and now it is too late.

I was right.

It was 1984. He was 66 and I was 26 and he was gone from my life.

No hint it was going to happen, just gone.

The really sad thing is I couldn’t remember then, and can’t remember now, the last conversation we had, or the last thing we did together.

Do you have an opinion to share? Submit a Letter to the Editor with your name and suburb at Sunshine Coast News via: news@sunshinecoastnews.com.au.

Now, I want to be clear, this is not a column about people feeling sorry for me.

I am sharing this for the complete opposite reason, to remind people it can happen to you anytime with no warning.

Don’t make the mistakes I made, or in fact Len Robinson did as well, leaving things unsaid, both ways.

If it’s someone close to you – a parent, child, partner or even a close friend – tell them you love them and appreciate them because you never know what’s around the corner.

ashley robinson sunshine coast news
Alex Surf Club general manager and SCN columnist Ashley Robinson.

If you have a disagreement, sort it. Do not let it be unresolved, as it may be the very last time you see them, or they see you.

“I don’t regret the things I have done, I regret the things I didn’t do when I had the chance,” is a well-worn saying that I should be the author of.

So folks don’t be like me and have regrets, like every time I hear Harry Chapin’s Cat’s in the Cradle I think of my dad after the last verse, “And the cat’s in the cradle and the silver spoon, little boy blue and the man in the moon, when you coming home, son? I don’t know when, but we’ll get together then, dad we’re gonna have a good time then.”

HL Robinson August 17, 1917 to June 16, 1984, RIP.

Ashley Robinson is a columnist with Sunshine Coast News and My Weekly Preview. His views are his own.

Subscribe to SCN’s free daily news email

This field is hidden when viewing the form
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
[scn_go_back_button] Return Home
Share