Friday 13th, 2019

5 years on from an incredibly sad and difficult day.

Friday 13 December 2019 - 631 Kenilworth Rd, Balsall Common, Coventry, England

My dad, Ivor John Spiers Fell, had always been suspicious about Friday 13th.

In their lounge room at 631, my dad’s chosen chair sat opposite an old style ‘box tv.’

On top of the tv Dad had a series of blocks.

One set of blocks had numbers representing each date of the month, the other had days of the week. Each day, one of dad’s morning rituals was to get up from his chosen chair, go over to the tv and turn the blocks to the next day. 01 would become 02 and Tues would become Weds and so on through the month.

Whenever it came to Fri 13th, dad would turn the blocks face down so you couldn’t see the day or the date. He didn’t want to be reminded of that date!

My father died on Friday 13th December 2019.

My sister Catherine and my brother Philip, who lives in the USA, had travelled to 631 to be with dad just before he died. Whilst they were there with him, I was back on Australia’s Gold Coast. I had been across earlier in the month to ensure we spent some time together but had returned home a few days earlier.

Our last conversation had been a tough one and it had consumed my thinking all the way home to Australia. It is the subject of the last chapter of my first book: The Rocking Chair Test. It reflected my dad’s view that I had fallen short of my potential. ‘I was 13 runs short of a century - 13 runs short of what dad believed I was capable of achieving at cricket and in life’.

Dad died on Friday 13th…………….on the very next Friday 13th I was stranded for hours at Melbourne airport as my business crashed. The initial impact of Covid was felt in a face to face event business like GiFT631.

On Friday 13th March 2020, I faced a decision point about the direction of my life and the survival of my business. I fully committed to do whatever I needed to do - I went #allin.

Unbelievably, the very next Friday 13th was the first time I was back on my feet speaking at a conference on the Gold Coast.

An incredible coincidence? Fate? Luck? Manifestation? The universe?

Today marks 5 years since the passing of my dad. I believe he would be hugely proud of what I am achieving. I believe he would see I am no longer ‘13 runs short’ - I am moving in the direction of my potential. I am not there yet but I am moving!

Thank you Dad - tough love at times but I know it came from the heart as well as the head. Love you x