Poppy's Campaign for Grandson Laec
Donation protected
A Father's tale......
My name is David Ross and my 2 1/2 year old grandson Laec has just lost his mother in a tragic accident.
http://www.gympietimes.com.au/news/gympie-communitys-outpouring-of-grief/2813622/
Nicole was only 26yrs old, just pregnant with her second baby travelling south with her best friends husband to spend time helping them unpack in their new adventure when a car came around the corner on their side of the road and killed them instantly. In that moment I lost my daughter, Michael lost his wife and little brother to Laec and Laec lost his mother. Our families lost their daughter, sister, cousin, niece and the Gympie community lost a wonderful, caring, happy, helpful friend always willing to lend a hand.
Ours was a typical Australian family growing up in the Gympie farming community with lots of extended family and friends always popping in and out of each others lives.
Nicole was our 3rd baby and born in Gympie when we came home to settle after our many years out west while I worked as a driller. Older brother Michael and sister Michelle complete our family.
My memories of Nicole growing up was that she was "just a good kid, everything she did seemed to have a purpose, she was a serious little girl and I can't ever remember her doing anything wrong." Dont get me wrong Nicole wasn't perfect. I can recall an occasion when she left her car parked behind the roller door. I would go to work early and this particular morning in my usual hurry, I pushed the up button, fired it up, started moving and boom.......put the tow hitch straight through her cars grill "first car, pride and joy". She had just got the front of the car fixed and I left a nice imprint of the Landcruiser in her bonnet. She never said a word about it to me because she knew the rules on not parking there as I needed to get in and out at all times of the day and night. She was our most sensible driver, I think it was because her mother taught her how to drive.
Over the years Nicole encouraged us to do good things in the community. We hosted 2 exchange students because Nicole thought we had a family worth sharing. We spent many years heavily involved in fundraising and volunteering at their schools which I think helped to shape Nicoles future outlook and the direction she was taking within the community at the time of her tragic accident. I still find it hard to believe the sheer amount of people that attended her funeral and the overwhelming community support that the family received. It was incredibly hard to speak at her funeral when all I wanted to do was sit with her in the quiet of the viewing room chapel and never have to let her go.
It was at that point as a parent I knew " this was as tough as life can get, how am I going to get everything back to normal, I cant fix this, I've always tried to fix things for my family"
http://www.gympietimes.com.au/news/families-farewell-nicole-and-jeremy/2817766/
Well the only way I can think of to try and even start to help Michael piece things back together is find a way to raise enough money to replace Nicoles income for this first year. I dont feel like its anywhere near enough but its a start.
At this point I would like to explain to you why I am asking for your heIp, I am a firm believer in work hard and do the right thing dont expect anyone to give you a free ride, life will return to you what you put in. I cannot believe that the banks allow our young ones to borrow so much without any bank security, wills or insurance, "nothing absolutely nothing". Michael and Nicole are only young and they depended on their bank to ensure they were looked after. "This isnt looking after them", in my day whenever I needed to borrow money, the bank told me I had to go to the solicitor and get enough cover to allow for this very thing. Nowdays its seems all you have to have is just enough equity in your property for the bank to be confident that the loan is secure enough.
Okay so now you ask me "why didnt you make sure they had this done". Well it hasnt been the easiest time for me over the last couple of years. Narelle and I bought the family farm and semi retired to become farmers. I have been a farmer my whole life, Narelle also came off a dairy farm. I though this was the perfect way to spend our next 40yrs. Sadly Narelle was unhappy with things and left me to move back to town after 34yrs of marriage. The kids struggled for a while and since Nicoles tragic death I have learnt she was seeing someone to help her cope with her parents breakup. I am devastated knowing this and so sorry that I couldnt fix this for her either. I had just started seeing more of her in the last 8 months and was so glad she was finally accepting some things are just broken. They bought the second house during this time with the banks okay and I didnt get to be part of that process. Its the first time I can remember in her life where there was a major decision when she didnt use me as a sounding board to have her back.
This is only a chapter in the book of Nicoles life. Nicole knew I loved her and she loved the farm. When Michael and Nicole decided to get married, she wanted it to be at the farm. I brought her to the groom on my favorite tractor. We celebrated their day in such a relaxed way.
Behind the scenes leading up to that day I can remember I had to clean out the shed (20yrs of my families accumulated treasures, right down to jam tins full of rusty, bent nails), dig the dirt floor up to pour the concrete, trench across to the shed to run power, do all the light fittings and finally fit the roller doors the day before. The whole family pitched in to make Nicoles day special. Michael's family were there working just as hard as the rest of us.
A farm wedding with all the toys.....what more could a Dad ask for right!!
http://www.gympietimes.com.au/news/a-flower-in-bloom-taken-too-soon-four-families-man/2824231/
I can remember after the Sargent had been to tell me the news of Nicoles death. I was sitting at the kitchen window looking over the farm in the early hours of Saturday morning at the tree where they took their vows and it was like Nicole was sitting there with me saying "Dad, I'm sorry" You know Nicole never had to say sorry to me in her whole life, she never did anything wrong. The only thing I can think of is she just knew how much we would miss her.
Everything was so perfect . The next chapter unfolds.
They work hard, buy their first home and fall pregnant with Laec.
Life is good.
Time with the family at Paradise Dam.
Time spent with mum.
My last celebration with Nicole when the kids came out for my 54th birthday party. Nicole had come straight from work at Bunnings. I would like to thank the Bunnings Managers for providing a bus for all Nicoles work collegues to attend the funeral. I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of the Gympie community. Thank you all!!
I am so worried about what my son-in-law Michael will do to continue to pay his morgage payments now he only has one income. I know the current world financial climate is bad and lots of us are struggling to make ends meet. So, I would just like to thank you in advance. To those people who read this story, thank you for taking time out of your busy day. To those people who donate to this cause I am so grateful for your support and help in my goal to make Michael and Laec's next 12 months just a little bit easier.
Rest in peace, my baby girl.
Michaels Eulogy
My name is David Ross and my 2 1/2 year old grandson Laec has just lost his mother in a tragic accident.
http://www.gympietimes.com.au/news/gympie-communitys-outpouring-of-grief/2813622/
Nicole was only 26yrs old, just pregnant with her second baby travelling south with her best friends husband to spend time helping them unpack in their new adventure when a car came around the corner on their side of the road and killed them instantly. In that moment I lost my daughter, Michael lost his wife and little brother to Laec and Laec lost his mother. Our families lost their daughter, sister, cousin, niece and the Gympie community lost a wonderful, caring, happy, helpful friend always willing to lend a hand.
Ours was a typical Australian family growing up in the Gympie farming community with lots of extended family and friends always popping in and out of each others lives.
Nicole was our 3rd baby and born in Gympie when we came home to settle after our many years out west while I worked as a driller. Older brother Michael and sister Michelle complete our family.
My memories of Nicole growing up was that she was "just a good kid, everything she did seemed to have a purpose, she was a serious little girl and I can't ever remember her doing anything wrong." Dont get me wrong Nicole wasn't perfect. I can recall an occasion when she left her car parked behind the roller door. I would go to work early and this particular morning in my usual hurry, I pushed the up button, fired it up, started moving and boom.......put the tow hitch straight through her cars grill "first car, pride and joy". She had just got the front of the car fixed and I left a nice imprint of the Landcruiser in her bonnet. She never said a word about it to me because she knew the rules on not parking there as I needed to get in and out at all times of the day and night. She was our most sensible driver, I think it was because her mother taught her how to drive.
Over the years Nicole encouraged us to do good things in the community. We hosted 2 exchange students because Nicole thought we had a family worth sharing. We spent many years heavily involved in fundraising and volunteering at their schools which I think helped to shape Nicoles future outlook and the direction she was taking within the community at the time of her tragic accident. I still find it hard to believe the sheer amount of people that attended her funeral and the overwhelming community support that the family received. It was incredibly hard to speak at her funeral when all I wanted to do was sit with her in the quiet of the viewing room chapel and never have to let her go.
It was at that point as a parent I knew " this was as tough as life can get, how am I going to get everything back to normal, I cant fix this, I've always tried to fix things for my family"http://www.gympietimes.com.au/news/families-farewell-nicole-and-jeremy/2817766/
Well the only way I can think of to try and even start to help Michael piece things back together is find a way to raise enough money to replace Nicoles income for this first year. I dont feel like its anywhere near enough but its a start.
At this point I would like to explain to you why I am asking for your heIp, I am a firm believer in work hard and do the right thing dont expect anyone to give you a free ride, life will return to you what you put in. I cannot believe that the banks allow our young ones to borrow so much without any bank security, wills or insurance, "nothing absolutely nothing". Michael and Nicole are only young and they depended on their bank to ensure they were looked after. "This isnt looking after them", in my day whenever I needed to borrow money, the bank told me I had to go to the solicitor and get enough cover to allow for this very thing. Nowdays its seems all you have to have is just enough equity in your property for the bank to be confident that the loan is secure enough.Okay so now you ask me "why didnt you make sure they had this done". Well it hasnt been the easiest time for me over the last couple of years. Narelle and I bought the family farm and semi retired to become farmers. I have been a farmer my whole life, Narelle also came off a dairy farm. I though this was the perfect way to spend our next 40yrs. Sadly Narelle was unhappy with things and left me to move back to town after 34yrs of marriage. The kids struggled for a while and since Nicoles tragic death I have learnt she was seeing someone to help her cope with her parents breakup. I am devastated knowing this and so sorry that I couldnt fix this for her either. I had just started seeing more of her in the last 8 months and was so glad she was finally accepting some things are just broken. They bought the second house during this time with the banks okay and I didnt get to be part of that process. Its the first time I can remember in her life where there was a major decision when she didnt use me as a sounding board to have her back.
This is only a chapter in the book of Nicoles life. Nicole knew I loved her and she loved the farm. When Michael and Nicole decided to get married, she wanted it to be at the farm. I brought her to the groom on my favorite tractor. We celebrated their day in such a relaxed way.
Behind the scenes leading up to that day I can remember I had to clean out the shed (20yrs of my families accumulated treasures, right down to jam tins full of rusty, bent nails), dig the dirt floor up to pour the concrete, trench across to the shed to run power, do all the light fittings and finally fit the roller doors the day before. The whole family pitched in to make Nicoles day special. Michael's family were there working just as hard as the rest of us.
A farm wedding with all the toys.....what more could a Dad ask for right!!
http://www.gympietimes.com.au/news/a-flower-in-bloom-taken-too-soon-four-families-man/2824231/
I can remember after the Sargent had been to tell me the news of Nicoles death. I was sitting at the kitchen window looking over the farm in the early hours of Saturday morning at the tree where they took their vows and it was like Nicole was sitting there with me saying "Dad, I'm sorry" You know Nicole never had to say sorry to me in her whole life, she never did anything wrong. The only thing I can think of is she just knew how much we would miss her.
Everything was so perfect . The next chapter unfolds.
They work hard, buy their first home and fall pregnant with Laec.
Life is good.
Time with the family at Paradise Dam.
Time spent with mum.
My last celebration with Nicole when the kids came out for my 54th birthday party. Nicole had come straight from work at Bunnings. I would like to thank the Bunnings Managers for providing a bus for all Nicoles work collegues to attend the funeral. I have been overwhelmed by the generosity of the Gympie community. Thank you all!!
I am so worried about what my son-in-law Michael will do to continue to pay his morgage payments now he only has one income. I know the current world financial climate is bad and lots of us are struggling to make ends meet. So, I would just like to thank you in advance. To those people who read this story, thank you for taking time out of your busy day. To those people who donate to this cause I am so grateful for your support and help in my goal to make Michael and Laec's next 12 months just a little bit easier.
Rest in peace, my baby girl.
Michaels Eulogy
Organizer
David Ross
Organizer
Toolara Forest QLD
