Last weekend a school friend of Brandt's died in a racing accident. It was sudden and horrific and so so sad. All of his mates were in shock. He was only twenty years old.
Also last weekend a lady I used to work with and who my mum later went on to work with for many, many years also died suddenly. Of a heart attack. It was instant, unexpected and also so sad.
Yesterday both of their funerals were held, ironically at the same place, several hours apart. Yesterday morning Mum emailed me through the funeral notice of both people and just reading the notices and seeing their loved ones left behind listed in the notice really struck a chord.
One so young who had had his whole life ahead of him and the other, newly retired from her work and excitedly planning a trip around Australia with her partner in June, also with her whole life ahead of her.
Both lives cut short.
Anyway, I didn't go to either funeral. Mum went to her work friend's funeral in the morning and Brandt went with all of their school friends to his mates funeral in the afternoon.
I lit a candle for each of them yesterday morning after feeling sad but also after receiving an email from Ken..it was one of those forwards..you know the type - live each day to the full, use the good cutlery instead of saving it for a rainy day etc etc..and there was a line in there, I have read it before, about using those pretty candles you collect instead of just letting them sit there gathering dust..
So I did.
And this time there were no mishaps ;) You can still see the melted mess from last time on the edge of my lantern! But I don't care. The candles looked and smelled beautiful all day!