Inspiring the Next Generation
My Mum died last Monday.
That’s why this blog has been largely quiet for the last week – I’ve been in that weird bereavement hollow zone where only family matters and everything else – news, entertainment, work – just seems irrelevant, not to mention irritating. But we gave her a great send off last Thursday – it was standing room only at the funeral service – and I’m getting back into my normal routine.
My Mum was a nature lover and it definitely rubbed off on me. I remember her running the Nature club at my primary school and we went on many nature hikes along the Lagan in Belfast where I grew up. In her later years her passion for the birds which visited the garden meant that there was only one option for charitable donations in lieu of flowers – the RSPB. Her passion also inspired my kids, particularly my eldest, Harry, who would trade bird lists on a regular basis on our Sunday morning phone calls.
The closing stanza of Mum’s funeral service went like this:
You can remember her and only that she is gone,
Or you can cherish her memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back,
Or you can do what she would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.
And that’s what I intend to do – not only work for a better future for the next generation and the one after that, but to inspire them to take up the torch themselves. Not that kids need much encouragement!
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