Eulogy

In the spring of his 47th year, Donald Andrews passed away.

He wasn't a man of great renown, his name was familiar to only a handful of people in this world.

His youth was spent in the city of Melbourne. He like cars, and girls, and funny movies. When he was 19 his mother died. She drowned during a trip to the beach. Donald didn't speak at the funeral.

When he was 22 he got a job at an garage, fixing people's cars. He liked the smell of engine grease.

His pride and joy was a mint-condition 1983 Cadillac Deville D'elegance.

When he was 25 he married a girl called Susan Bradford. They had two children together. The eldest, Harley, got hit by a car while crossing the road. He died aged 6. Their other son, Peter, was fond of animals, and space. When he was 14, he and Donald saw a rocket launch while on holiday in the United States of America. Peter said it was the most fantastic thing he ever saw, and Donald agreed.

When he was 30, he had an affair with a woman from work. She drove a brown Toyota Corona with bad brakes and a bobble-head Elvis on the dashboard. They slept together once. He never told his wife.

He was a heavy smoker since age 15, and was secretly delighted that it never presented him with any health problems.

When he was 47, he was driving his Cadillac along the Great Ocean Road, when he swerved to miss a wallaby that had wandered onto the road. He hit clipped the front of an oncoming truck, and the car spun around, and was hit in the side by the car behind him. It was a Ford Falcon station wagon.

When the paramedics arrived, Donald was smiling. He told them the Cadillac's engine was still running. Two minutes later, Donald died from internal injuries.

The Cadillac was still running.