A bad day....

Today is not a good day. Today I learned that my best friend's sister died in a tragic drowning accident in Brussels at the weekend. A young woman, a mother of two young girls, a wife, a talented singer. Can it really be a year since we were all together in France?

Daughters aren't supposed to die before their parents and mothers are not supposed to die before they've had the chance to see their own daughters grow up and flourish, to have their own daughters and their own lives. To hold them when they cry over broken hearts, to cheer them on their way in life, to see the tiny thing they held in their arms grow into beautiful young women. Wives are supposed to have the chance to grow old gracefully, or even disgracefully with the loves of their lives, to plan that cruise round the world when they've got purple hair, to spend their kids inheritance, to doze off in front of daytime TV with a nice cup of tea.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the world, governments plan to bail out the rich and greedy, the people who cared not one jot for the lives they were ruining in the pursuit of profit. The people who will still have their second homes and foreign holidays and cellars full of vintage champagne while the rest of us worry about how to pay our bills and how to keep a roof over our heads, even how to bring up two young girls alone. You tell me where the justice is?

For Richard and the girls, especially Clara who is 4 today, for Susie and all your family, we are with you in spirit even if we can't be there in person and we send you all the love and support in the world

There is a place that we call Memory -
A province by itself which,
though unseen,
is home and haven to the heart -
and there,
in peace and beauty,
waiting,
are those with whom
we shared our yesterdays.

Hold your loved ones just a little bit closer tonight.