StandwithLondon

another day like no other

A year ago on June 5th I posted about a day like no other after walking in support of those suffering from Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. Walking again today in the annual fundraising Gutsy Walk was also a day like no other but for a very different reason and with the disease symbol itself seeming to take on a very different meaning.

As I walked around Trout Lake in the sunshine here in Vancouver this morning with all those suffering from these crippling diseases together with their loved ones and supporters my thoughts were not only with them but also a few thousand miles away in Bermondsey, London where I lived, studied, worked and taught fifty years ago. How many times have I walked across London Bridge and how well I remember its re-opening in March 1973, which I blogged about last year.

And now another night of terror, pain and despair for too many has visited on that same bridge and on those same streets that I knew so well. There are really no more words other than to express my deepest sympathy and heartfelt condolences to families and friends who have lost loved ones, especially the family of Christine Archibald from here in British Columbia, Canada; and to wish all those recovering in those great London hospitals, a full recovery.

Oh how I wish I didn’t have to post this image again so soon after the attack in Manchester.

 

Dedicated to the memory of Jodi.

London’s bridge of sighs today

Although we moved to Vancouver over forty years ago, part of my heart will always be in London where I was born and brought up. Today, a year to the day after the terrorist attacks in Brussels, that heart breaks again for all those who were killed and injured on Westminster Bridge and the Palace of Westminster, as I send my deepest sympathy and heartfelt condolences to all of their families and friends.

Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty…

William Wordsworth   Composed upon Westminster Bridge, Sept. 3, 1802