He was a Rich Man—But Not for the Reasons You Might Think

Here was someone who had known me from my first hour on earth, someone who had given endless time to me, taught me, nurtured me, sacrificed for me. In his final years when time was precious, I would find time in my diary to see him, schedule in time. It should have been the other way around, he should have been the priority and everything else moved around.  

My dad was in a care home for the last years of his life.  There were many other people in the home, and they were much like him, their worlds had shrunk down to a few rooms and the same routine everyday. Marking time between when loved ones and friends visited. My Dad was the lucky one, someone visited him everyday. Others would wait weeks, months in some cases for someone to visit.

Here were people who had been somebody when they were younger, husbands, fathers, grandfathers, captains of industry, leaders in their fields. Some had travelled the globe, had magnificent adventures, lived fascinating lives, made fortunes, but in those final years it came down to one thing – relationships. 

In the modern world it’s complicated, families are spread out across the globe, across time zones. It can be hard to stay in touch, to be involved in each other’s lives. It’s easy for a week to turn into a month, to turn into three months, then six months, a year with little to no contact.