I didn’t know whether to do a post for this day or not. Perhaps
just leaving the entry blank as a mark of respect would have been the best
thing. However, here goes.
Sunday 25th September was a very busy and traumatic
day. The Nottingham Half Marathon was in the morning and the race goes very
well although it soon starts to pale into insignificance as the events of the rest
of the day start to unfold.
My morning as a fully paid up VIP goes well with tea/coffee
laid on pre-race and two dedicated toilets for all the VIP crowd which includes
the Elites. Ok, so that bit wasn’t so good and I opted to join the standard loo
queues with the masses because it was quicker.
The course itself runs ok despite my misgivings about the
organisers cutting out the University and adding in two dead turns instead. L,
the dogs and my father are all at Crown Island so they get to cheer me past
twice which is much appreciated. The second time I’m desperately trying to hang
onto the coat tails of the 1:30 pacer which I fail to do. However my time is
still good as I clock 1:43, which I’m actually thrilled with, on what is a well
hilly course.
In the VIP tent afterwards there’s plenty of food, drinks, a
massage and I get a free race photo as well. So overall it’s quite a good deal
if you want all that.
By the time I finish L has already departed for the hospital
with my father giving her a lift there. I head over to join her as soon as I
can.
Sadly at around 7pm her brother passed away with his family
around him. He was just 36. As ever I try and look for the positive in things
no matter how hard that can sometimes be. He could have died in 1986 when he
was just 6 but he received a donor heart that would enable him to enjoy another
30 years of life and for everyone to enjoy that with him.
A few odd things spring to mind at times like this. I first
met him when I met L in 1996 when he would sometimes baby sit for her as I attempted to
wine and dine L in an attempt to persuade her to spend the rest of her life
with me. We had to pay him obviously, as you do with brothers, but he helped me
get the girl.
He was famed for his taste in music (Rammstein anyone?) but it
is a Marilyn Manson gig in late 2009 that I will remember him for. This was apparently
his first gig and it was also notable for L getting all vamped up in blue hair
dye and blue nail varnish. It was also bloody brilliant and he loved it.
Then of course, of late, there was his dogged refusal to
give up on life even when everything seemed stacked up against him. That you
really have to admire. He will be missed greatly.
When Daughter hears she gets straight on the next train over
from Manchester and we pick her up from the station. When we get home we toast
him with red wine, lemon cake and Bombay Bad Boy pot noodle. Some of his
favourite things. RIP mate.
(Sunday 25th September)
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