At 9pm October 6 2005

[tizz]

My stepfather Ron finally lost the battle with his body. He passed away quietly after his brother n law and then his brother who had not been able to see him in three months (because of Ron's infection and his brother's risk for getting it) He just quietly went while I was sitting there in the waiting room waiting for someone to let me know it was my turn to go in (they did not know I was there). I sat with him and quietly thanked him for all he has provided for myself and for Autumn and promised to be here for my mom and to keep his business going as he wished. He looked so calm and peaceful, breathless, but relieved. He can now keep watch over my mother as he had hoped to do after recovering. My mom came over to be with him and PLEASE keep her in your prayers. She has been with him throughout this whole ordeal, night and day and it is going to be very hard for her in the coming months.

 

I weep now as I know tomorrow I will have to figure out how to explain to my daughter that the only grandfather she has ever known is gone. He loved like his own from the day she was born, and she loved him right back.

 

I haven't always understood the man, but when I brought that little girl home to meet him I saw in him the man inside. His heart was as big as his stomach and his capacity for love as grand as his life's adventures. He touched people across the globe, from small fishing villages that he helped to find a way to survive as big fishing took their source of food, to the blokes in Australia that shared many a drunken night of one upped stories of the sea, to the old women whom he would deliver shrimp at a discount twice a year and take the afternoon to sit and chat with, to my daughter of whom he loved with his entire heart and my mother for whom he fought so long and hard to live for.

 

He will be a man missed. Missed by loved ones, friends, the ocean he so loved and I am sure that there is even a ripple of sadness that floats along with the fish around the world, many of whom left the earth at skilled handle of his reel and rod.

 

Goodbye to Ronald K Stires, may he float on the spray of the crashing waves.

[TheJenn88]

hugs

Be strong, love. We're all here for you.

[tizz]

Thank you. I have just been sitting with my mom remembering some silly stuff and looking at some of the pictures of my daughter he kept taped up over his work desk. The man really DID do just about everything he could ever want to do and then some. He traveled the world doing everything from research to starting hotels in Africa, he owned a lobster boat, ran a fish market, hunted had fun and late in life found my mom. The amount of amazing collections from his travels and work could fill a museum, carvings from Africa and Australia, Japanese hand blown glass fishing floats, boat lanterns and teakwood chest with a mother of pearl inlay of a tiger that he had made is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!! The dried sea turtle on the wall next to my head (inners intact) a skeleton of a sea dragon, bowls made of weird giant nuts from the Seachelle Islands, bracelets made from the pubic hair of elephants (for real, tribes give them to people when they leave to always help them find their way back home, he gave one to me the first time I set out across the country) and the list goes on and on and on. He even had a few pictures published in National Geographic (the photographer from the mag didn't get the shot but Ron DID). He has discovered fish species, caught a giant squid, and searched for the lost city of Atlantis. (He even had a hand in the search for the Titanic) I can only hope to live half the life he did.

[builder]

He's settled in quite nicely under my abode. Just a stone's throw from the Pacific ocean.

 

I hope he likes AC/DC, and cold VB. He'll be fine, Tizz. I'm taking him to the pub this arvo.

 

Can he play 8ball?

[Vortex]

Tizz i am not a member of any faith so i wont say i am praying for you.

 

but you are apart of my disfunctional online family and im thinking of you....

 

 

May all be well for you sweetheart!

[tizz]

Thank you vorty and builder I am not sure about the 8ball but I am sure he would love to catch brew at the pub (he hasn't been able to have a beer in YEARS because of his health). His wishes were to get everyone together on a local Riverbaot (party boat) and go up and down the river and eventually, quite quietly, dump him over the edge at the spot he always thought of as home. I am working on making that happen. Thanks again to everyone.

[TheJenn88]

Thank you. I have just been sitting with my mom remembering some silly stuff and looking at some of the pictures of my daughter he kept taped up over his work desk. The man really DID do just about everything he could ever want to do and then some. He traveled the world doing everything from research to starting hotels in Africa, he owned a lobster boat, ran a fish market, hunted had fun and late in life found my mom. The amount of amazing collections from his travels and work could fill a museum, carvings from Africa and Australia, Japanese hand blown glass fishing floats, boat lanterns and teakwood chest with a mother of pearl inlay of a tiger that he had made is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!! The dried sea turtle on the wall next to my head (inners intact) a skeleton of a sea dragon, bowls made of weird giant nuts from the Seachelle Islands, bracelets made from the pubic hair of elephants (for real, tribes give them to people when they leave to always help them find their way back home, he gave one to me the first time I set out across the country) and the list goes on and on and on. He even had a few pictures published in National Geographic (the photographer from the mag didn't get the shot but Ron DID). He has discovered fish species, caught a giant squid, and searched for the lost city of Atlantis. (He even had a hand in the search for the Titanic) I can only hope to live half the life he did.

 

He sounds like a wonderful man who had accomplished much. It would've been an honour to meet him.

[angie]

Tizz I am sorry for your family's loss. They will continue to be in my thoughts and prayers.

[RoyalOrleans]

I'm not a man affiliated with any religion, aside from my heavy drinking and skirt chasing, but my thoughts are with you.

 

He will never truly be gone unless you forget him. Remember him, both in good times and in bad times. This way he has a legacy.

[ToriAllen]

I'm sorry for your loss. Be sure to let your memories comfort you rather than haunt you.

[snafu]

My next prayer will have you and your family in it.

[tizz]

My deepest thanks to everyone, it really means a lot to myself and my mom.

[skategreen]

Sorry Tizz.

 

I hope you make the send off just as you want it.

 

I hope you get to be together with others at that time ...and ...enjoy swapping stories.

 

Sounds like you had yourself a Gem.

 

I'm glad he left stories worth tellin.

 

Hug Hug,

Skate

[Lethalfind]

Tizz, I'm so sorry. I know that no matter how long he was sick or how bad it is, your were still not prepared for loosing him.

When my Dad died I thought also of my daughter as you are thinking of your daughters loss. He sounds like a wonderful man.

Its very true what someone said, don't let your memories haunt you. Try to remember him when he was well and happy. The person that our loved ones become when they are ill and in pain is not the real person. Pain and illness change people. Remember them well and happy.

My thoughts are with you.

[Mohammed_Rots_In_Hell]

Sorry to hear about it, tizz... My thoughts are with you and your family just now.

[tizz]

I spent tonight pouring over a MILLION old fotos. Everywhere the man wen the took a zillion fotos (and he went EVERYWHERE!!!) The best had to be the "King Neptune Ceremony" pics when he got to be King Neptune (If you have ever crossed the equator on an ocean vessel you should get that one, it's way too weird to explain and frankly a little scary) I have NEVER seen so many pictures of weird fish, from giant squid to thresher sharks to a great white and more than a few I won't even try to spell LOL. He also kept the most beautiful collection of flower fotos from around the world. I had never really looked at the albums before tonight and it really gave me quite a glimpse into the AMAZING life he lead.

 

One of my Favorite Books is "Auntie Mame" by Patrick Dennis, and Mame's tag line was "Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death, you have to LIVE LIVE LIVE!!!!!!" Now I know why Ron was as large a man as he was. He sat at the banquet of life and went back for fifths sixths and sevenths LOL and then some dessert on top. I wish I had gotten to closer to him in life but he could be a tad intimidating (Not to mention some men spend so much time at sea they kind of forget what soap and water is EEEEEEEEK!!!!! Might work at sea when you can hop into the ocean for a quick rinse but on land EWE!!! LOL)

 

 

I am sorry to be ranting so much here but as is so often the case, I am learning so much more about the man is dealing with his death than I ever had the chance or inclination to do while dealing with him in life.

[chartreusechick]

wow Tizz, I'm really sorry to hear about your loss. I know what you're going through, and I know words are not adequate to ease the pain. I just want to let you know that you and your family are in my thoughts. Time heals, so keep your chin up.