Page 16 - Gwen Landsberry - Eulogies

The hardest ones came midlife, and I know you kids are aware that your
Dad wasn’t the easiest of men. The thing is, in the early days when we
were courting, and even when we got married, he was such good fun,
Rob. Now I’m guessing that you’ll be doing some sort of photo tribute
to commemorate my life – you’d better, my boy, or they’ll be trouble!
Well, take a look at some of those early photos of your Dad and me
together - swimming, playing tennis, dancing, socialising, and laughing.
And such an unlikely match. There I was this country girl from a family
of 12 kids, and a devout Catholic. And there was your Dad….an only
child, born and bred in the city, 10 years older than me, and he was
Church of England!

Of course, you know we almost broke our engagement a few times.
Religion was such a big issue for me. But your Dad kept fighting – I guess
it was true love. He went to a course of Catholic education classes. Not
just once, but twice…I think that was just so he could keep giving the
poor Priest a hard time about the ins and outs of the Catholic faith. You
know your Dad!

It was when Alf’s own Dad died that things started to change for him.
He started on a sort of slow decline, and by the time you three were all
born, well…he was a different man. And we all struggled.

Rob, I know you look back now and think we could have done more for
your Dad. We can see how he suffered from debilitating mental
illnesses. But you know, back then help wasn’t as good as it is now.
Promise me you’ll have no regrets about how you were with either your
Dad or with me. Neither of us could have asked for three more
wonderful children. We were truly blessed.

People say that family is everything, and that’s true for sure. In my life, I
was lucky enough to have multiple families.

The O’Brien family clothed me in faith and love right from birth. I know
you all think it’s sad that that amazing generation of 12 O’Briens is gone
now. But that generation gave rise to 45 first cousins, and on it goes into
two, three and more generations beyond. What a legacy! I’m proud to
have carried the O’Brien banner through to 2020 on behalf of my
amazing parents and my 11 fabulous siblings.

And then I had my second family…Alf, and you three children. I’ve had
the privilege of watching you all develop into the wonderful people you
are. And I’ve had the pain of watching as you make those inevitable
missteps. We’ve even had some times when things haven’t been perfect
between us. Sometimes I was wrong. Sometimes you were wrong. But
we would always come together, apologise, and move on – stronger and
closer. Rob, never underestimate the power of apology and forgiveness.