Sunday Blog 254 – 11th October 2026
“Could I get one can of Swanny D?” I’d already scanned the beer fridge without finding Dad’s old favourite.
“Of course,” said the attentive young staff member, and disappeared into the cool room before returning with a single can of the beer that was the signature drink of my family gatherings in the 1970s and 1980s.
To be fair, Dad had switched to Carlton Mid Strength, but I was feeling extra nostalgic so went for the old favourite to pour into his beer mug which sits on my ancestor altar. Because today is Dad’s birthday – his heavenly 101st which means he’s been gone six years now.
I decided to make a morning of it, and visit his mother and two brothers who are buried together in another grave at the same cemetery. Down at Granny’s grave I cracked the Swanny D and the smell was hot drives in the car with no air-conditioning or seat belts, hell we two youngest didn’t even have seats; there were simply too many of us to fit on the Holden’s bench seats. It was the aroma of Christmases past with an assortment of the thirty Brennan cousins. It was the taste of Dad’s beer from his tankard at the end of the day. For Granny I liberally sprayed the Lourdes holy water from my 2025 trip. Of highly questionable taste, an actual spritzer bottle for holy water was one of the many purchases from the Lourdes gift shop I couldn’t resist.
Over at Mum and Dad’s grave, with another of Dad’s many brothers also snugly buried below the two of them, I shared what was left of the beer with the two boys and my teetotaller mother had a splash of Lourdes holy water.
To round it off I played the Eagles football team anthem; we’d played on the day Dad was buried. Meant to come on once he was safely in the ground to cheer us all up, the funeral company’s timing was off and Dad was interred to a shattering round of an upbeat football jingle.
I played it and yes, I did laugh, as I know both Mum and Dad would have. Having emerged from the straightjacket of my childhood faith several decades ago I’m still convinced humans need ceremony for these moments and milestones. So now I try my hand at making my own with cans of beer and holy water spray bottles.
I wished Dad a happy heavenly birthday and tried not to dwell on the Eagles latest season, then the song abruptly cut out.
When I got back in the car and connected my phone, the Eagles anthem suddenly burst back into its cacophony. Dad getting the last laugh?