John Neil Watson, born June 3rd, 1940 and died April 3rd, 2009.
John was a good friend. Most of my friends in my life are younger. True I do have some other friends who are post 60, but very, very few. John was the father of another dear friend Mike. He was a loving husband to Jenny, father to Kate and Deb and grandfather to Brea. John was thankfully able to be at Brea's baptism a couple weeks ago. His cancer deteriorated badly recently, but this is a post about the good things.
I enjoyed John's friendship because he was cheerful. He had a steady faith in our Lord Jesus, and a great mind. John enjoyed history alot, particularly medieval history and I loved learning from him. I enjoy learning from people, especially when they are experts on a topic, and John was certainly an expert on European history. This love of history and geography led him on a couple of major treks in Spain. They were some seriously long walking holidays through Spain and I was so impressed at his commitment in physical training for months on end so that he would be fit and conditioned to take the trips.
John was a good father to my friend Mike. They spent a lot of time together, and this was a special thing. I enjoyed going to many footy matches with John and Mike over the years, this is where we got to know each other. We also had a tradition of going to the Boxing Day test match together at the MCG. When I knew that John was quite sick (he was diagnosed in June 2006), I still held hope that he would be well when we came back to Australia late last year. Thankfully John was doing quite well when we arrived. It was a special treat to go to the cricket together on Boxing Day. I certainly did not know it would be for the last time. It was special that he was healthy enough, and that thoughts of life were on his mind and all of our conversations were pleasant.
There are many other things that could be said about John and will be in the following days, but I just wanted to share a little something of my appreciation for a good and godly man. John I will miss you, but I am very glad for you that you now get to experience the unbridled presence of Jesus.
May God bless the Watson family in their time of loss and grief.
1 comment:
John was a special friend of my family who we will miss. I enjoy the thought of his now being reunited with my grandfather, who loved to sing with him.
Post a Comment