Death and Life

Away from home today to attend the funeral of a close friend’s mother. She was 94 and had been one of the close circle of my parents’ friends and therefore part of both my childhood and adulthood. Sadly her last few years had been blighted by Alzheimer’s..

The funeral was in Comrie which meant a lovely drive in bright weather which afforded the occasional view as in the blip. The weather later closed in.

There was a great turn out of family, friends and neighbours. My godson and his wife were there with their 2 children. So despite the loss and reflection on a long life, there was the joy of a new generation happily oblivious to the wider issues going on. The elder one might have wondered at all the elbow touching greetings that were going on.

On my way back I popped into the Gyle shopping centre at the west of a Edinburgh. I have never seen the car park so empty. And the shops were almost empty..

As I arrived home the latest press conference was on the radio ramping up the “suggested” controls. I was pleased to see tonight some references on Twitter to the tens of thousands who have reportedly recovered from the virus. While any death is tragic, the figures help to provide some scale and perspective.