Last night, I woke up in the early hours of the morning to the sound of my phone ringing. It was my drunk brother who was locked out of the house. I went downstairs, opened the door, sent him to his bedroom with a paracetomol and cup of tea and that was me, Mother Teresa, wide awake at four in the morning. Cheers bro. I sat myself at the kitchen table, got my phone out from my dressing gown pocket and scrolled down my facebook feed. The first thing I saw was that one of my friends had declared themselves safe during another attack in London. Jesus Christ, not again. A massive gush of guilt entered my chest for just moments ago being angry at my intoxicated brother for waking me up at a ridiculous time. At least he returned home safe. At least I got to see his face again and hear his voice (even if it was slightly slurred from too much Jäger).
I love Sundays because they are typically family days. This afternoon my sister and I took my nephew, Oliver, on an 'adventure' (in other words, we took him to a big, green field to let him run off some steam and allow his imagination to run wild). Talk about a cheap day out! Unlike three year old me, Oliver is the most carefree, confident, ginger scrummy human. He runs up to strangers and starts conversations; he wants to know their names, what their plans are for the day and if they sound like a lot of fun, he wants to know if he can come along too. He laughs in the face of danger! I worry though that when he gets older and his lovely naivety starts to fade, he'll hear about the horror stories that are happening in the world right now and won't want to leave our sides. He'll hear about innocent people being stabbed when walking down a street. He'll hear about innocent children being murdered when they went to watch their favourite pop star. He'll hear about innocent people walking over a bridge, only to be mowed down to their deaths.
Today I will hold him closer than ever and give him extra snugs. But tomorrow and as he gets older, I'll encourage him to run free, live his life exactly as he wishes and not be stopped by the fear that we all want to feel today. If he one day wants to travel the world, then he should go and travel the world, fly on aeroplanes and walk around cities free from the terror of these cowards. I wrote about hate quite recently in another blog post and despite this act of hate being on a much larger scale, the same kind of things apply. There is only power in it if we give it the fuel it needs to spark. We have to continue to live our lives as we would before these attacks took place. We will not let them win. Love and kindness are the greater forces and absolutely thrash any kind of evil. People who show love and kindness are the strong ones and most powerful.
Above everything, I never want Oliver to lose his faith in others. Every time one of these horrible events have occurred, notice the flock of kind, good people who selflessly pick up the pieces and offer their support. They regain my faith in humanity - the helpers! I think all we can do now is continue to be kind, brave and stand together. Lets continue to teach our children to do exactly the same too!
Oliver is captivated with Toy Story at the minute and believes whole heartedly that he's Buzz Lightyear. Oli babes, never stop believing in your super powers! You are the bravest superhero in the world. Go kill those baddies with your incredible kindness and loveable, courageous heart (because I promise you, those are the best super powers anyone can ever have!!) xxx
Above everything, I never want Oliver to lose his faith in others. Every time one of these horrible events have occurred, notice the flock of kind, good people who selflessly pick up the pieces and offer their support. They regain my faith in humanity - the helpers! I think all we can do now is continue to be kind, brave and stand together. Lets continue to teach our children to do exactly the same too!
Oliver is captivated with Toy Story at the minute and believes whole heartedly that he's Buzz Lightyear. Oli babes, never stop believing in your super powers! You are the bravest superhero in the world. Go kill those baddies with your incredible kindness and loveable, courageous heart (because I promise you, those are the best super powers anyone can ever have!!) xxx
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