I have spent the entire day at home with my dad....something I haven't done since I was a little girl......I thought I would load the eulogy that I read at his funeral.....despite my frivilous blog title, I am finding this all very emotional.....and you can only laugh or cry by it.....:

My Lockoo Ayer Lakjaya asked me if wanted to speak today and I felt that I honoured to do so. I then had to think about what I could say in just 5 minutes that would capture my time with tartar.
One of the biggest things I think I should recognise is his pride in being a Sri Lankan. It is no surprise to see so many Sri Lankans here as he was always a pillar of the Sri Lankan London community. When he first came to this country in 1948 he was a young man and Sri Lanka was still called Ceylon. He had seen first hand the country fight for its independence and because of this he never gave up his nationality. Can you all believe that the only British passport he ever held was one from the colonial days? He was a proud Sri Lankan who spent much of his adult life here, but recognised that his ‘home’ was in Lankawa......I never really understood that till now. Did you all know that not only was he at the London Olympics in 1948, but he also held the Ceylon flag at the Queen’s coronation 59 years ago. How many of us can say that? So to make sure his last wishes are followed my family are planning to return his ashes back to his childhood village later this year.
My father’s full name was actually Arachie Dewage Puncha Buluwela. Arachie was a title bestowed to him in the Queens honour’s list of 1958 for his work within the Ceylon government during its colonial era. This title was nominated by Sir John Kotelawala the third Prime Minister of Ceylon who was someone my father held in very high regard. I recently found a letter written to Sir John that said that both he and my Amma were grafetul to Sir John for leading them in the correct path to England. Sir John was also generous enough to host my parents wedding in his own home. At the time Sir John was Prime Minister. As a child of no more than 5 years old I can recall being in Sir John Marma’s bedroom. He told me that he never allowed women in there and so I felt very special. I can remember strutting round his room, even jumping on his bed. When I came to his dressing table I noticed lots of personal framed photos; to my amazement photos of us and my parents. Even at the age of 5 I realised the significance of this. Sir John had also held my father in high regard. Oh how tartar played this all down? He was a humble man who actually achieved far more than we all ever knew. He was an understated man who quite literally witnessed history in the making on a regular basis. Something that I am in complete awe of.
My other childhood memories are that he had a very strong work ethic but also a sense of family values. A few days ago I looked through photos and old letters. I found his leaving certificate from the army; it read: he was a loyal and good worker and leaves of his own accord to better his prospects, which without a doubt he did by coming to England. But life was hard. He held two jobs down for much of my young childhood surviving on very little sleep. He did that for his family. He never took family holidays with us; instead he pretty much worked round the clock at the high commission. The only family trips we ever took were when Sir John marma was in the UK and we would spend the day at his Kent home. Those are memories I treasure when my father would spend time with us all. It was the only trips we ever took and we all cherished them.
His English passion was to wear his flat cap and go and place his bets. I would let him think we didn’t know but we always knew when he had a big win as the fridge and cupboards were full of food that he wouldn’t normally get. He would also make sure we all had a small share of his winnings. So for today I went down and placed his bets on his behalf. The bookies were very sad to hear of our loss and the bookie himself was visibly shaken when I told him. He offered me a free bet which if you are interested is on the 3.40 at York on Wednesday, horse Sri Putra. I was also able to bet on his daily numbers. If the ticket comes in we will win over £25k! So fingers crossed!
I have got to mention his cooking. I am sure everyone in this room has had a meal cooked and served by him. I am so glad we were able to cook for his recent darna and I hope that he would have been proud of us. Like him I take great solace in cooking for people that I love. I hope we have all done you proud. My own love of cooking and food has come from my good family meals growing up and has perhaps led me to becoming a cookery teacher now.
Lastly I just want to finish by saying that family and friends were everything to him. I am delighted that he has 4 gorgeous grandchildren: Ella, George, Thomas and Hannah that he can be extremely proud of. He is blessed with loving lifelong friends and till the very end he was surrounded by people that thought very highly of him. He influenced me far more than I ever had a chance to realise and also tell him. His last few days that I spent with him were very peaceful and loving and ones that will always stay with my sons and I. I feel sure he knew we were there and that we loved him. We had far more in common than we both ever realised.
Rest now our dear sweet tartar. Uppie oyata adoray godack...we all loved you very much.