Reece Harding's family know he is gone but dread the moment of finality that will come with his funeral.
Gold Coast father Keith Harding has mixed emotions about Saturday's service for his son, who died in June while fighting with Kurdish forces to defeat Islamic State militants in Syria.
He knows it will be a beautiful tribute, punctuated by stories about the 23-year-old's loving character, his empathy, and the sense of justice that drove him to join a Kurdish militia battling against the terrorist group.
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But there's another part of him that doesn't want Saturday to come.
"I suppose it's the final conformation that he's gone," Mr Harding told AAP on Friday.
"Because he was always travelling, I still think he's going to come back from one of his trips."
The Harding family has been very public in its grief, using Reece's death to urge Australia and the world to do more to help Kurdish people fighting in what they consider to be their homeland.
And they hope many people will turn out to honour him.
Mr Harding will be among the speakers, as will Reece's younger brother Jordan, who will address mourners on behalf of their mother, Michele.
A member of the Kurdish community will also speak to honour Reece's life, which ended when he stepped on a landmine during a night operation alongside the Kurdish militia known as YPG.
Last weekend, Melbourne's Kurdish community held a traditional funeral service for Reece, after the fighter's remains arrived back on home soil.
Reece was the second Australian in five months to die alongside Kurdish fighters in Syria. In February, former army reservist Ashley Johnston died while aiding a Kurdish unit there.
The government has warned Australians they are committing a crime if they join the conflict in the Middle East, regardless of which side they support.
Earlier this week Melbourne man Jamie Williams faced a Melbourne court, charged with attempting to travel to northern Iraq to join Kurdish forces fighting against IS. He remains in custody.
Mrs Harding on Friday urged the government to stop prosecuting Australians who fight with the YPG.
"They use the excuse that they want to stop Australia's young people from joining the fight but it is because of their apathy in not doing anything that is encouraging our young people to go," she said in a Facebook post.
"If the government want to save Australian lives then give the Kurdish people the means and assist them in helping to destroy ISIS that they describe as a death cult."
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