Outstanding scholar. These are the first two words inscribed on Ben’s epitaph. It may seem a strange way to have started the most...

For as long as I can remember I've been fascinated by the concept of shared birthdays. Whether it be reading an autobiography, checking...

Sunday, 20 October 2019, marked the first day’s play of the 2019-2020 cricket season for North Ryde RSL Cricket Club’s First Grade team...

In late September 2019 I was selected to play in a pre-season T20 cricket match for North Ryde RSL against Northbridge Cricket Club on...

In mid-September 2019 North Ryde RSL Cricket Club had decided to open its 2019-2020 season with a fundraising event in aid of the McGrath...

During the winter of 2019 the North Ryde RSL Cricket Club Presentation Night was conducted; an event at which team and individual...

(The precursor to this tale can be found at www.thebeniverse.net/post/the-game-goes-on). On the evening of Valentines Day 2019, as the...

One of the qualities I was keenest to foster in our boys as they progressed through adolescence to adulthood was the courage to be...

Earlier this year I decided to do a bit of a stocktake of various items in Ben’s bedroom. In truth it is surprising that I had not done...

The lockdown in NSW during the first half of 2020 was a strange and unprecedented time for a lot of people. Many of us found ourselves...

Earlier this year I was looking through Ben’s room, and on this particular occasion I decided to catalogue the books that he had deemed...

I have written in the Introduction to this section of The Beniverse about my experience on the morning of Ben’s 22nd birthday - see...

There are some people who just get it; who have this innate ability to empathise with what you are going through. You listen to the...

In early December 2019, on the very day that Linda and I had agreed between us the style, size and colour of Ben’s gravestone, and placed...

When your child is young, particularly as a stay-at-home Dad, you get to hear and see most of what they say and do, and you feel you have...

Ben’s death on 26 January 2019 occurred on the very eve of the commencement of the tour to Australia by Norton Oakes ‑ North Ryde RSL’s...

In early December 2019 Linda and I were attempting to finalise the plaque that we would be placing in due course on Ben’s gravesite. The...

They say you can tell a lot about someone from the people they choose to surround themself with. In Ben’s case that form of analysis...

For many weeks after Ben’s death we didn’t, couldn’t, turn on the television. Why? Because nothing else that was going on in the world...

Linda had for many years aspired to jump out of a plane – with a parachute, and with someone who knew what the hell they were doing,...