A sad week or so...

so, a bit of a sad last week or so.. first, we were saddened at school and scouts to hear of the sudden death of a good teacher, and wife of one of our best Scouters....our hearts go out to the family... then of course Paul Newman, not one of my favourite actors necessarily, but in one of my favourite films (clue.. its on one end of a bee...) has died... a taxi driver friend of my dad's, known as Shep went the way of all flesh... (interestingly, his Dad, also a taximan, was known as Shep's Dad.... which caused confusion when I was smaller, when I announced Shep as "Shep's dad's son...") and on top of this, a person who i always saw as a friend, despite everything, died a week ago.. I speak of Joe the Gorilla, long time resident of Twycross Zoo.... me and Joe had a very limited friendship, separated by glass.... but having been a visitor to the zoo for many years, and being fortunate enough to have a son who gets free admission to the zoo, I saw Joe often..... he would alweays stick his lower lip out at me, and I would reciprocate.... and on occasion, if there weren't many people around, he and i would "touch hands" through the glass... which astounded many other visitors... we would often just sit there, neither of us quite looking at each other.... its a gorilla thing... i think we understood each other... and i was going to launch into some observation about how sometimes such a friendship can bbe more rewarding than the usual standard sort of thing, but I'm not... instead, I hope everyone who has been bereaved recently or not so recently has the courage to cope with the loss, and the comfort of their close ones in their sorrow and grief.... time may not heal, but it does lessen the pain... and may all those who have passed from here to wherever find themselves where they hope or deserve to be... and until the rapture, the ragnarok, nirvana or whatever reunites us all, Wisebeard salutes you!!!!!