Stephen Sutton - an inspirational kid

Apart from my caring work, I have also been busy recently writing audio trails for the National Trust, and when I am at home I generally go for a walk before settling down to write.  So I dropped Sarah off at the school where she works and set out nice and early on a beautiful May day for a stroll.  I usually trudge up the Malvern Hills behind our house, but today I decided to go downhill instead and take in some of the beautiful woodland walks in the valley below us.  The grass was wet with dew and the birds were singing their hearts out; I saw a woodpecker and heard a cuckoo too as I made my way through the trees and flower meadows, and just had to stop now and again to take in the various amazingly beautiful scenes and vistas on my way; the bluebells were still there, although fading a little now, but the tiny white flowers of wild garlic and peppery yellow celandines lined the pathways everywhere.  I didn’t see a single soul, apart from a few horses galloping away in the distance, and a roe deer furtively making its way through some undergrowth.  And I got to thinking about how I felt when I came out of hospital following my cancer surgery, and how I had blogged about how surviving that trauma had made me appreciate the commonplace and ordinary things in life more, and speculating if after a while life would just become normal again and routine…  Well I guess you do have to settle into life’s little routines and find a way to earn a living and pay the mortgage and stuff, but my perspective in life I realise was changed forever by that experience, and I really don’t take moments like these for granted anymore – I’m very lucky to be here still to see and hear the beauty of the natural world as I walk around the woods here, and experience… well as a million other things too.  On returning home I switched on the radio and heard the news that Stephen Sutton, the teenager who had raised over three million pounds for the Teenage Cancer Trust had sadly passed away.  I kind of had an affinity with this kid; when I first saw him on TV, he was lying back in bed and you could clearly see the long surgical scar right down his abdomen – I have a replica of my own.  He was an amazing guy; a teenager who in spite of being diagnosed with a terminal illness still managed to have a positive outlook on the life he had left.  He achieved his bucket list, and along the way raised an incredible amount of money to help other young people who are suffering from cancer too.  He like me had bowel cancer, and in an interview he talked about how unfortunate it was that his illness was diagnosed too late to save his life.  It seems that doctors weren’t able to believe that a young man could be suffering from a disease that usually affected people much, much older.  And even though I myself am much, much older, this is what I was told too – “You’re not old enough to have bowel cancer, and you don’t smoke; I have other patients who are far more at risk than you.”  In my case, persistence paid off – I’m still here, and am grateful for every precious moment, and grateful too for inspirational people like this young man who didn’t waste a second of what life was left for him to live, and who has left behind a legacy of hope for other young people who may be in a similar place.  Sometimes life can be cruel and totally random tragic stuff can happen; but as he said – “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”…  God bless you, kid, I give thanks for your presence here on earth however brief it was – you made a difference, and not many of us can say that.

Poem of the week - 'Marriage Vow'

A mate of mine got married recently and I was asked to do a reading as part of the ceremony.  She asked if I had any suggestions and I mentioned that I had a piece that I was asked to write for another friend’s wedding many years ago.  So I read the piece on the day and it went down really well; ‘hitting the emotional spot’, I guess.  Afterwards one of the guests told me that she loved that poem, and that a friend of hers had used it at her wedding too.  I remember that the girl I wrote it for asked if she could pass it on to someone else who wanted to use it, and apparently it has somehow become a bit of a favourite piece for wedding readings, being emailed on and on, I suppose. So if anyone out there is using it, perhaps you wouldn’t mind just acknowledging the author?  Anyhow, it’s called ‘Marriage Vow, and here it is…

Marriage Vow

There is now,

There is here;

The two of us before so many

Saying “We are here together

Sharing a word;

A word that brings us together”.

And so we say to all of you

“Here we are - the two of us

Now,

Now and always”.

And so let this be our vow:

That we, imperfect people

In an imperfect world

Will strive for that word:

That single word, perfect in its simplicity;

And our lives from here on

Are as husband and wife,

Man and woman

Linked together until death

By a pledge before you.

Witness us,

Bear witness to us

As we say to each other

“I love you”.

For what more can one person say to another?

So bear witness

And share this moment with us

As we pledge our troth,

As we sign our names on paper

For some official to record and mark in time,

Not knowing how we feel now;

Standing before you, our witnesses,

Sharing with us

This ceremony that brings us together

And these words that bind,

This word,

This single word

That brings us here together,

This word -

“Love”.