It is the most beautiful day on the island but it is very quiet in our little village as we mourn the loss of a special member of our community. Ian drove a taxi on the island but was an ex head teacher and a wonderful character. The circumstances are not yet clear but he died late Friday night in a car accident. There were no other vehicles involved and the investigation is on going. Sadly, Ian was not found until the Saturday morning. The terrible news spread very quickly and I am confident that those close to him would now know so I can say more than I could yesterday.
Not only have we lost a great island character but Ian was 'Pops' to Harry's best friend Ciaran. Ciaran loved his grandfather very much and lives with his grandparents so you can all imagine how hard this is for him. Our hearts go out to Ciaran and his family at this incredibly sad time. Watching Harry and his mates being there for their friend yesterday made us sad and proud both at the same time. The lads have good strong bonds and this will see them through. All us oldies can do is support from the wings.
My first blog on January 1st began a project full of anticipation and hope and it could not have known the ups and downs of the year that lay ahead. The last few weeks have really tested me and I feel responsible that all this sadness has been shared more widely than it would normally be. But that is the integrity of the project as its aim was to track my life every day for a year. I am resisting the temptation for my brain to start thinking 'what is next?' What will be will be and I will cope with it all because that is what life is about. Harry is 18 tomorrow and we will celebrate it but perhaps in a slightly more low key way as that is what he wants. Molly is home and we will love spending time with her because that time is so precious. None of that means that we forget Paul or Ian as they are both in our thoughts constantly. Life has to go on but perhaps with a little of the polish removed for a while.
The last few weeks have galvanised my belief further in my new site One soul many hearts. The whole reason for setting this up was to create a space for all that is good and positive. We spend so much of our lives online that I just wanted to create a space where we could visit from time to time and find some joy. A space that shares inspirational writings and images that make us smile. It is perhaps too easy to focus on the horrid things in our lives and the Internet is full of those sorts of stories. One soul many hearts is conceived by a combined soul that is driven by many kind and sharing hearts and I am really excited about it. Writings are starting to come in for publication and they have all made me smile in one way or another. Some are about hope, some about achievement and some about aspiration but they are all heart warming and inspirational. I do hope as many of you as possible will pop over to the site as often as possible and I am always looking for people to share positive experiences in writings and images so do get in touch if you would like to contribute. I am planning to launch the site in October but have set up a facebook page associated with the site so that you can all see how the build up to launch date is going. I would be thrilled to have you guys 'like' the page as that way you will always know what is going on. I will be putting regular calls for submissions on there and if you could share with your facebook friends that would be just perfect. I believe that One soul many hearts could grow some seriously large wings and when it takes flight it will have us all looking skywards for a while.
I have a small story to share that perhaps illustrates what I mean. I have two nieces called Rachael and Sarah and they came to see us all on Arran in May. I introduced them to the butterfly tree charity work that we have been busy with and they made a flag for the new schoolroom in Zambia. I then packed them off with resources so they could make more. The two enterprising angels went home and made flags to order for their friends and also did a cake sale. They raise almost £25.00 and the picture shows then handing the money over. Both the girls know exactly what they were raising money for and how many mosquito nets their money could buy. But there is more to it than that because these girls want to help children who are less fortunate than them and that really sung out from all their efforts. It is a wonderful story and one that deserves to be shared and so I am sure you will all join me in thanking the two very gorgeous angels, Sarah and Rachael.
I will end today with some images of my flowers that I used as a demonstration on the course yesterday. I turn to flowers for support all the time because they really know how to lift a girl. This pedestal arrangement attempts to capture all that is autumn colour in flower land.
Good night Ian, sleep tight.
No comments:
Post a Comment