Goodbye violin and Kody

A belated goodbye to my dad's violin:

You started life in a slaveshop somewhere in China in 1961. Who knows what conditions you were born into but someone evidently loved you enough to hand paint the year of your birth inside the bow.

My dad bought you as a 18 year old boy full of hope about life, but couldn't use you to play much more than revolutionary songs endorsed by the government. He soon got caught up in the rest of his life and you went to sleep quietly in your case, watching the seasons come and go.

You lived for so many years atop a cupboard, surviving every cleanout at my house, and eventually made it to Sydney in 1996 after my dad almost got arrested at the airport for jokingly claiming that you were a machine gun.

In 1997 I tried to play you for about three months, but gave up because it was just too hard.

Then you went to sleep for another 12 long years, before I decided to wake you up again. I had all your mouldy bits replaced and you came back to life, vibrant as ever.

You served me for a wonderful two years before you choked to death in the humidity of Darwin. Unfortunately the moisture expanded your neck until the head snapped off from the body, much like a cervical spine fracture.

But you helped me to learn my scales, studies and a handful of decent pieces. My favourites were - Salut d'Amour, Tchaikovsky's 2nd movement of the violin concerto and Mozart's G major concerto. You helped me to realise my dreams of playing the little things I always wanted to play - Schindler's list, swan lake, Air in G...

You were with me for so many good times. Lessons with Trish for a year, the Scottish Fiddle club, long nights in Nowra in that lovely resonant living room, and of course in my little Darwinian bunker.

Thank you, you have served my dad and I very well. I hope you rest in peace in violin heaven.


And to Kody:

We always knew you were going to be too hyperactive to be a guide dog, but somehow we just prayed that you would grow out of it, and grow up to be a great guide dog. Alas, it is not to be, and your life must go on like a normal dog's.

You are such a bright happy boy, I'm sure you will love your new home with a family who needs a dog just like you. Hopefully they'll have little kids that will grow up tugging on your tail and playing ball games that you love, or maybe an oldie who just needs a friend to walk with everyday.

I'll always remember how you dug up our entire backyard, ate the doormat bit by bit over six months, found my dad's wallet which was lost in 1997, and pretty much cleaned out all the junk under our house in Nowra.

We had so much fun together, but it's time for you to go to another home. Have a good life Kody!