Ten years ago today I posted the following on A Hebridean in New Zealand:
It was never my intention to make this a weekly blog posting but during this week I have learned of several people who have had news that they will be less than thankful to have received. Two involve news that I can well understand having had similar news given to me. So the first thing I am grateful for today is the twelve years and a few weeks I have had since I was first given that news. I sincerely hope that those people will be writing a similar post in twelve years. In fact in one case I have already agreed the place for lunch this time twelve years hence.
During that 12 years so many things have happened: some good, some not so good, some mindblowingly wonderful and some heartwrenchinly bad. They have given me the outlook on life that I have and have taught me to live life for the moment. So that is the second thing for which I am grateful today.
And I'm thankful that I was persuaded to visit New Zealand and circumstances have allowed me the privilege of seeing Milford Sound (West Coast, South Island, New Zealand) and on a fine day and with a good friend, Steve.
And I'm thankful that I was persuaded to visit New Zealand and circumstances have allowed me the privilege of seeing Milford Sound (West Coast, South Island, New Zealand) and on a fine day and with a good friend, Steve.
Despite living here my whole life I confess I've never been to Milford Sound, my bad but it's funny sometimes looking back on our life through the parallels and parables, do you miss NZ?
ReplyDeleteAmy, I think I last went in 2007. It was reasonably quiet at the time and I loved the grandeur especially when we were on the boat down the fjord. Do I miss New Zealand? At times I miss it so much that it physically hurts. I have The Family and so many friends there and my life there was as good as life can get. The Family were coming over here this year but that didn't happen of course. C'est la vie. I'm fortunate to have had the decade there and to have a good life here as well.
DeleteIt is great that you have managed another twelve years and I hope you can keep that dinner date.NZ is a beautiful country with a beaut prime minister.
ReplyDeleteDiane, I never cease to be grateful for every day that the medics keep me alive. Yes, New Zealand is a wonderful country even when one isn't wearing rose coloured spectacles.
DeleteOur attitude has much to do with how we succeed in life and with other challenges.
ReplyDeleteRed, it does indeed and reading your posts makes me realise what a great attitude to life you have.
DeleteSuch a beautiful place. I went in 1973 and have not gone back as I wanted to treasure the memory of the pristine water and no crowds. Have to say it still looks perfect in the photo. I hope your friends are going to keep the lunch dates.
ReplyDeleteFi, sometimes going back to a place can be very disillusioning. It wasn't crowded at all when I stayed there. I hope so too.
Delete'Carpe diem' has become the mantra of the age. My children are far more aware of it than I am; I tend to stay put and contemplate. NZ certainly is a beautiful country.
ReplyDeleteCro, 'Carpe diem' is certainly something I've been aware of for a very long time. Being told that it may well be the end of the line focusses the mind.
DeleteIndeed, you never know what the next day - or even the next hour - brings. This time of year, the truth of that feels particularly poignant to me, as it is now 11 years and 8 days since I came home from work on that Thursday afternoon and found Steve dead.
ReplyDeleteYour "Thankful Thursday" post from 10 years ago is timeless.
Meike, we've both come a long way since then haven't we? Long may our good fortune continue.
DeleteI can only imagine, Graham, that the time you spent in New Zealand, would be the stuff of glorious memories. It is a country I have always dreamed of visiting, yet for one reason or another have never made it, and I doubt now that I ever will. The glory of Milford Sound reminds me that it is my loss.
ReplyDeleteDavid, my time in New Zealand was packed full of glorious memories which altered my life. The things we have never done also live within us. My almost lifetime friend who went to Sarnia when we were just 21 and I had planned to do the Trans Canadian together. We did Australia and we did New Zealand but we never did the Trans Canadian and, of course, now we can't.
DeleteNow - if I've understood your post from ten years ago - you have doubled your time. How good is that?
ReplyDeleteI might just say I've received that same news, a twelve year future is not my lot. I should make it quite clear that I'm grateful for every year I've had to now.
Alphie
Alphie, I'm so sorry and I've no idea how it happened but I missed your comment until now. I'm sorry to hear that a twelve year future is not your lot and I assume that you have good reason to believe that. I've twice been told that the 'end of the road has come' only for a new treatment or, in the current situation, a drugs trial, to appear and rescue me for a little longer. But then I'm talking about cancer and I don't know your situation.
DeleteBeautiful post, the day begins
ReplyDeleteThank you, Maywyn, life begins anew each day.
DeleteMay you enjoy many more years to come, Graham
ReplyDeleteYou have many good memories to look back on.
Thank you, JayCee. I have a lifetime of good memories because my brain has filtered out most of the bad ones. Which doesn't mean that I forget some of the bad moments like the death of my elder son but it does mean that they don't govern my life.
DeleteFacebook brought up a photo for me the other day that set me thinking back ten years as well - both good memories and not so good, but I'm still "here" (with a lot to be thankful for, even in this strange corona year 2020).
ReplyDeleteMonica, it reminds me that we've known each other for over a decade as well.
DeleteGraham, the friendships made over this past decade in Blogland are very much on my list of things to be very thankful for, too. Without you and some other online friends already part of my daily life, I'm sure this year of corona-related distancing would have been even stranger (and a lot more boring)!
DeleteLife is so fragile, and every day is precious. It certainly makes you thankful to be alive. Mxx
ReplyDeleteMargaret, you're absolutely right about the fragility of life. The number of friends who haven't come through the last ten years is both upsetting and scary.
DeleteGreat picture of Milford Sound. You are a cancer success story Graham - making excellent headway through your own Milford Sound - in spite of the dark cliffs that occasionally plunge down in such a threatening manner. Full steam ahead Cap'n!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the upbeat comment, YP. I'm really fortunate in that I've met the right medics and the right steps in cancer treatment just as I needed them.
DeleteG'day, Graham...New Zealand is a beautiful country. I've only visited it once...a brief visit to the South Island...but I enjoyed every minute. The Kiwis and Aussies are good mates.
ReplyDelete“Life is a Highway”...”Sometimes you bend and sometimes you stand...Sometimes you turn your back to the wind...”
Keep taking good care, Graham... :)
G'day, Lee. The antipodean camaraderie and rivalry between the two nations is tremendous and very obvious to someone like me with friends in both camps and the views of both an insider (as a part time Kiwi) and as an outside from the country so many Kiwis and Aussies forebears came from it's interesting being an observer and, at times, a participant.
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