A Well Worn Sleeve

I sit in my usual place with the words flowing from my fingertips waiting for them to give meaning to my life and in doing so explain to me the reason behind my absence. I didn’t wake up one morining with the shelves shaking or the ground moving beneath my feet. I don’t live on a crazy faultline. I didn’t fall unexpectedly against a sharp object hitting my head resulting in temporary amnesia. I still have all my faculties…..I think! I didn’t discover some new religion that relinqueshes all things to do with the outside world…..God no!!!

Why did I suddenly stop? Let’s put it this way….I felt that I just needed to. I felt that I was repeating myself.  To be able to write  these letters you need to be totally honest with yourself and the world. You need to be able to wear your heart on your sleeve. This is the way that I have always led my life….an open book. But I felt that my sleeve was getting a little bit worn…practically threadbear. So I just stopped. It wasn’t a sudden decision. I just eased into it and do you know something ….with that decision came a kind of relief.

I needed the break to gather my thoughts and order them. It didn’t do much good really because my head is still a jumble sale of nuggets waiting to be snatched at a moments notice. I was constantly thinking of little stories to tell you all but I had to hold the reigns in a little. What did I do with myself with all this free time off? What do you do in a world gone mad?

At the start of Summer I went to the most wonderful of festivals in Skibbereen with my family and friends. The CorkXSouthwest festival with headliners such as Patti Smith, Echo & the Bunnymen, Peter Hook….all sorts. We had fun times …. …cooking… drinking…. singing….. dancing…..playing….enjoying life!!! For our Official Summer holidays we spent a week in Kerry…the Dingle Peninsuala. A week in the Maharees. The sun and sand and giant waves along with the passage over the Connor Pass to Dingle most days. West Kerry is a magical place to behold with wonderous beauty that changes with the passing weather each day.

Another week was spent in Courtmacsherry with my family….Clodaghs Birthday is always celebrated in Courtmacsherry with all her cousins singing that famous song.

Happy 8th Birthday Clodagh

 

Ready for the Kiddes Disco

 

Deepest Sympathy

What do you say to someone when their loved one dies? How do you convey that heartfelt sadness, that sense of loss that accomapanies death? These are the thoughts that I have struggled with for such a long time and I find myself  asking these questions once again when I heard of Kerrys sudden loss of her sister.

There was a time not so long ago when I would have been a regular on Kerry’s pages….sometimes everyday…..her life is so full of wonderful moments and eventful to say the least. Her honesty was a breath of fresh air in a world gone stale. She was also a constant presence on my blog and is a willing contributor to whatever I produced. So it saddens me to witness the loss of her sister at such a young age.

I tried to put myself in Kerry’s shoes…to feel how she would feel…thoughts of my own sister and our relationship…that hidden bond that exists only between siblings…they carry with them an unwritten history that can never be erased….the happy and the sad times…They are the missing jigsaw piece that is needed to complete the puzzle….

Even though I never knew her sister and you could say that I barely know Kerry…..I need to send her this message….I needed to let her know that she is in my thoughts….Even though she is in a far off land, I can still send her my deepest sympathy. Let these words be my form of a gentle hug….a squeeze of the hand….a loving word to a gentle soul. I am so sorry for not being there due to my absence but I want to let you know that you are never far from our thoughts…..