Counting

I can now count a handful of people I have cared about, who have died, in their forties, of cancer.

They were all parents. One of them wrote in a letter to everyone she had to leave behind, that although she didn't know what happened when you died, she intended to be in her childrens lives forever. It has been my pleasure to talk about some of these people with their children, and to tell them stories about their Mum or their Dad. There's a garden seat at the local school that I cannot walk past without giving it a pat, because I spent a lot of time sitting there one year, first with A, then with J, who both made supreme efforts to be there to pick up their kids at the end of the school day, for as long as they possibly could. Without exception, their children and their partners have, on the whole, thrived. Maybe suffering really does make you stronger.

None of these people were heavy drinkers, they were active, none of them smoked, including the lovely man who died of lung cancer. None of these people were careless of their health as AOF puts it so well. I have decided I must take a little more care with mine. I shall talk about that with you at the weekend.

Meanwhile there are little bloggy tributes moving me to tears all over the place, and Facebook is temporarily unbearable, because last week, the Editter died. I shall remember always her big beautiful heartfelt grin, her knack of making you feel important, and her story telling. I hope my path crosses with that of her gorgeous baby boy as he grows so I can tell him that too, but I have no doubt that he will know how loved she was, and how very much missed. Cesca has a lovely post with great pictures, and so does Martha. Cesca, I'm going to look you up next time I'm in Christchurch.

I have hung a picture of you and your boy above my desk dear Editter, to remind me, life is good and must be appreciated.

So meantime, could the rest of you kindly take care, keep well, okay?

and go tell someone this....(I can't find a good clip of Van the mans version, but this is a goody, though I like it better if I don't have to look at Rod!!)