TO LOVE AND TO LOSE

THROUGH THE BEST AND WORST DAYS OF HIS LIFE, RORY RODRIGUEZ HAS CRAFTED SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT SONGS OF DAYSEEKER'S CAREER SO FAR. THIS IS HOW HE MANAGED IT...

- JACK ROGERS

'My brother said something about how weird it was to see my daughter at the beginning of her life, me in the middle and my dad at the end of his life. It's a weird full-circle thing when you look at it like that."

Rory Rodriguez lets out a little smile as he mulls on these words. He's vocal about how incredibly comfortable he is talking about these sorts of things, but that doesn't make them any easier to realise.

But from watching his daughter Hazel come into the world in the January of 2021 to then saying goodbye to his dad Dennis, following a decade-long battle with cancer, in July is about as emotional as it gets. From utter delight to hopefulness to complete sorrow in the space of just six months, it's almost impossible to imagine the weight that puts on the chest. And even now, as he discusses those memories, that array of emotions still cling to him.

"There were these opposite ends of a spectrum in that I was experiencing the best time of my life but also the worst time of my life happening at the same time," he states.

"But I think I'm just really grateful that my dad was alive to see me have my daughter. She was an amazing barrier or buffer for me feeling the weight of his passing. She may not remember him very well when she's older, but I have plenty of pictures and videos to show that they were together at one time.

"She hung out with us in the hospice he was staying at and was in the room with my family and me when he died. And I'm aware it's a very dark setting for her to be in, but one moment you would be crying, and the next you would look over at her, and she would be smiling, and it would make you smile."

He pauses and smiles again.