Sorry we haven't posted for some while. No reason really just a case of getting down to it. Christmas was just as we had hoped - very different. Certainly the best thing we could have done. It took our minds off the 'normal' Christmas morning as we had to leave the house at 5.30 am. Met some interesting people in Deptford, on the whole very lonely people who were able to have three good meals and some company. It was a great atmosphere and there were plenty of volunteers. A few rough sleepers who were able to have a good clean up and a change of clothes and a hair cut. Quite a transformation for some people. I think the thing they valued the most was being able to talk to people and having someone listen to them.
New Year's Eve we weren't sure whether we would go out or not. Our usual crowd were getting together and, without putting on any pressure, were keen for us to join them. We did and we had a lovely evening. Midnight was obviously a low point but our friends kept it all pretty low key and helped us get through the evening. You know who you are and thanks a million.
Then the first anniversary of losing Lukey. Again, we were not sure what to do but felt we wanted to do something. We made a rather last minute decision to have a Memorial/Thanksgiving Service at Christ Church in Brockham and hoped Luke's friends would come. We wanted to put a small notice in the local paper but it kind of snowballed and became a short article inviting anyone who wanted to come! Around 300 people came and it was a lovely service. We tried to make it a little upbeat and had the congregation singing 'Blue is the Colour' as our last 'hymn'. (Even some Arsenal and Sunderland fans were singing apparently!) Neil made an emotional speech, which was important for him as he had missed the funeral. Luke's friend Lee gave a slightly different account of our Lukey and some of the antics they got up to. It made us all smile. We had a special time when people could come up and light a candle (we almost ran out!). It took about half an hour for all the candles to be lit and it was getting rather hot down at the front! Everyone was invited into the church hall for tea, coffee and cakes and I think we just about managed to get everybody in. Thanks to all our friends who helped in the kitchen and made cakes. We have a great support network from some lovely people.
Luke's birthday will be with us shortly so another difficult day to come. Don't think we will be doing much but who knows!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment