Reviewing The Situation

31st December

Reviewing The Situation

New Year’s Eve seems to be the perfect day for glancing back over our shoulder at what has passed and then turning to face the undiscovered country of our futures.

From a work point of view, people continued to think I was worth employing from time to time. From the funerals of tiny babies, to those who had lived almost a century of life, I continue to tell the stories of the lives of those who died and maybe, on occasion, I did enough to ease the pain a little for the bereaved.

This was the year I also got to officiate at three weddings, all in Lincolnshire where apparently I’m very popular.

It is my plan to work a lot less next year, not least to follow my own advice about trying to get the balance between work and play right and have some fun, but also because….well, that’s a story for another day.

Personal highlights for 2019, other than the theatrical outings I mentioned the other day…attending 7 conventions and meeting some of my heroes, a wonderful family holiday to Northumberland, Polly loves going back to Pig Cottage,  enjoying classical music thanks to the Halle Orchestra, enjoying contemporary music thanks to Jack Pack, occasionally meeting up with some of those people who still, after all these years, are happy to be seen in my company.

But in truth 2019 was a rotten year and that was mostly through watching Mrs B and her family, going through the torture of seeing her mum being taken away, little by little, by dementia.

Margaret’s death was definitely something to be viewed with mixed feelings, a release from illness and pain but a cause of huge sadness for those who loved her.

This year gave me a chance to feel even more connected to the bereaved families I worked with, my empathy levels we certainly upgraded. We lost other family members this year, elderly relatives who had simply reached the end of their roads. Then Gil’s sudden death - well, that pain is still very real too.

Today our intention is to head to the coast, to spend some time walking on a beach. Fresh air, peace, time to think…about what cannot be changed and what still might.

These words, by Robert Sexton, I offer without agenda…

Time sweeps everything away. Like the ceaseless waves of a mighty sea, it clashes upon the shore of each human life, seizing the artefacts and elements with which we signify our existence; and - with neither disdain nor regard - it spirits them away. When it takes our sorrow or our despair, we may begin to believe that it is merciful. But when it steals beauty and innocence and charm and joy, we know that it is without compassion. Like the sea, time has no heart. It sweeps away everything. And neither our resistance nor our regret can stay its flow.



Thanks for being part of my 2019

I wish you enough health, both physical and mental, to be able to enjoy what lies ahead in 2020.

Here are a few faces from my year…