Perspective

On Monday I spent the morning doing something very difficult. I can't write much about it as it concerns m'learned friends and really it is someone else's story. If it succeeds I suspect that it will be reported in the national press so if that happens I will talk about it then.

The previous Friday I went for lunch with an ex-colleague.  It was a beautiful day and we went to a cafe in the middle of a park. We had been sitting there for around half an hour when I realised that someone I knew was walking towards me. I know her through work and hadn't seen her for about a year.  A few months ago I'd met her work partner who told me she was on maternity leave so I wasn't surprised that she was carrying a tiny baby only a few weeks old. She was also with her mum and dad.  They all looked really happy fussing over the baby.

This woman is very successful, Oxbridge graduate, own business etc. etc. I was pleased to see her and the baby was lovely. I was slightly horrified when I realised I was probably closer in age to her mother than I am to her. I spent the entire weekend worrying about Monday morning and then when Monday came didn't get into work until mid afternoon. In my inbox was an email from the woman I'd met on Friday letting me know that the baby had died over the weekend.

I couldn't sleep at all on Monday night.

Comments

[molly]

How awful! So sorry.........

[Shauna]

Oh my goodness... how devastating. I'm so sorry to hear that.

I hope things work out with the mysterious paragraph one thing :)

[Louise]

That is tragic. I drew a sharp intake of breath and exclaimed out loud without having so much as laid eyes on those concerned - no wonder you couldn't sleep. It's quite disturbing that window between being there... and then not.

[Nelly]

Louise's response echoes mine exactly. Thinking about you.

[fifi]

What a dreadful thing to have happened. Awful.