Mentalechoes

I got some news this morning that brought back a lot of painful memories that I thought I had let go of. A good friend of mine experienced an enormous tragedy Saturday morning, one which I have seen before. I couldn’t believe that I would ever live to hear that same tragedy happen again to someone in my circle of friends, and yet two years later, almost to the day, it has happened, and brought with it a torrent of emotions.

To have paid witness to a tragedy like this once is enough, but to experience this again - even though I am much further removed from it this time - seems perverse, bizarre and somehow unfair in a way I just can’t even describe in words.

My heart is with someone else today, and I really hope for them that they can find the strength of will to survive the weeks and months ahead. God knows she will need every bit of it she has inside of her, and all the support she can get if she is to make it.

For myself, I am now drawn back to a time when I said goodbye to a close friend, on a cold autumn afternoon in Edinburgh only a short time ago. And all the sadness I felt on that day is with me now. I guess there are some things in life which we never really forget.

Padwanna!