It looks as if I will not be able to go to the funeral tomorrow, and although I was initially upset at this, as the days have gone by, I no longer mind. I think I realised in the end that I wanted to go for the wrong reasons - to find out a little more perhaps about her life and what had led her down that road, when it should have been about paying my respects. I do not need to attend a funeral in order to do that, for I did that for her while she was alive, perhaps during the most critical phase of her life - right at the very end. In the end there is no greater honour than to do that for another person.
I have been thinking of her these past few days and know that she is still around, and acknowledging the role that I played during those final weeks, and that in the end is what counts. She would understand that my lack of presence does not mean a lack of respect.
On another note, last Friday I finally said a farewell to the Box Hill News when my final issue was delivered to our printer. It was a strange feeling as the handing over was delayed for a day due to some issues with our printer, and also because the Church vestry where the BHN printer is located has been taken over as a temporary storage area while the adjoining Church hall has some building work done - namely, a new kitchen. When the printer finally did come to collect it was a strange feeling to know that this was the last time I would ever do this, and see him in this capacity. Still, in a village this size, I am sure I will continue to see the rest of the team around the Hill and we will I am sure remain in touch. I cannot though say that I am sorry after the the fiasco that has become the Olympics, to let it go.
The tickets for the Road Cycling Races went on sale this morning, and in typical LOCOG stance, I received an email from the Friends of Box Hill, who were involved in the consultation process, undertaking surveys with LOCOG re the environmental impact of the games, to say that even they would not receive complimentary tickets. Mind you, from the limited information I have been able to dig out of them, access for villagers will not be easy, as according to the official website, the entry zones for ticket holders are via Dorking mainline or Box Hill railway stations, both of which due to road closures, will for residents require a 7 mile walk to get to, followed by 3 more miles to walk back up the hill. All that for a journey that should take no more than half an hour. What a shambles!
Our piece in Cycling Weekly came out last week and although it was short and sweet, it said it like it was, as does my outgoing piece detailing the reasons for the cancellation of the Olympic special in BHN. One thing's for sure, it will certainly give all those gossips something new to talk about - apart from April Fools that is - all I can say is, more fool them!
No comments:
Post a Comment