Departures
On Monday, the baby who did not make it into the land of the living was cremated. It was a private family service at the local crematorium. James, the grieving father, held the small wooden casket that contained his lifeless daughter. Such a tragedy. What does a celebrant or a presiding priest find to say about a life that was snuffed out before it began? Heartbreaking. On Sunday, I heard about another death. On an organised five kilometre park run, Robert, the father of one of our Frances's best friends dropped dead. He was fifty eight years old. It was just last Saturday. This man was an obsessive runner, recently competing in several marathons and even long distance ultra-runs. That fatal park run should have been next to nothing to him - just a gentle loosener. He was very fit. He even participated in a few triathlons during this decade. In May, Robert went to The Himalyas, undertaking at least two long mountain runs in Nepal as well as visiting Everest...