My father in-law passed away last week. He was 87 and had been ill for some time.
It was a peaceful death in his own home of more than 50 years with his family by his side to send him off into the unknown.
Anton grew up in communist Yugoslavia; after completing his apprenticeship in mechanics he escaped over the border to a refugee camp in Italy and took a job in a coal mine in Germany.
Freedom meant opportunity for a new life in Canada. Soon he was on a ship to Montreal and 18 months later, he sent for his German girlfriend, who would be his wife for 65 years.
He built a successful automotive repair business in Vancouver which is still going strong 51 years later.
We are losing a generation of Antons who were born during the Second World War and left Europe for a better future.
Like my parents who immigrated from Ireland, that generation came with a hard work ethic, skills and values that helped them to become successful people in all walks of life.
Here is South Delta we have one of the largest senior populations in the Lower Mainland, and when they leave us, they take their generations life experiences with them.
Family dinners at my in-laws meant detailed stories of Europe after the war, what it felt like to be a newcomer who didn’t speak the language and finding community.
It’s hard to relate to the stories because it’s so vastly removed from our own reality, but if we don’t their life lessons will be lost.
My mother, stepfather and mother in-law are all 80 plus so Anton’s death reminds me to talk less and listen more, because soon they won’t be here.
We can learn with hearts wide open from a generation that experienced more change that any generation before them, if we just listen.
Ingrid Abbott is a freelance writer who doesn’t have to read the obituaries to be reminded of her own mortality
