Another star drifts away...

It is hard feeling such a profound sense of loss for someone I but read about and knew of second hand, but that is what I feel today. I heard over the photocopier in work first thing this morning that Simon Fitzmaurice had died yesterday. It was a shock. He's fought MND for years - a harsh and painful station. His wife Ruth has inspired me hugely - through her book, her kind words to me in private and her pure willpower, love and honesty. 

I feel some of her pain today but much like many people when Liane died am at a loss as to how to act. I'll be thinking of her and her children, of her friends and their families. I'll be sending my love and my empathy. I'll be hoping that the little raft we call life settles them onto a gentler sea and allows them to grow and to celebrate Simon. I'll be summoning courage and support and pushing it out into the world where maybe some of it will filter over to them.

And I'll be swimming - I'll be swimming with them in my thoughts and in my spirit. 

Safe journey Simon, tell Liane hello.