The start of the Winter Olympics has brought back memories of Abi’s excitement for the 2012 London Olympics. It is hard to know she is not here to watch this with us, no doubt she would have loved it.
She followed the London Olympic events with interest and I can remember watching the amazing opening ceremony with her, it was like a mini party at home! We took her to see Zara Phillips carry the Olympic Torch into Cheltenham Racecourse, and danced with the huge crowd to music acts like Labyrinth.
She even held one of the torches, which went to her school briefly, and attended a women’s football game with her dad thanks to tickets given away at school. She was naturally sporty and outgoing so she revelled in the hype surrounding the Games; her enthusiasm was infectious. She even chose an Olympic bed set for her new room, which we now have carefully wrapped, unwashed, in storage.
At her funeral, we chose Caliban’s Dream as her entrance music, a song from the opening ceremony. This song is over 7 minutes long so the full benefit couldn’t be appreciated on the day, but it captured her love for life and it reflected the wonderful last year we had with her in 2012.
I’ve tried to listen to it, but the tears come too quickly as I am taken back to that terribly sad day that we said goodbye. The collective voices of children is always a moving sound in any case.
It’s a stunning piece of music though, that will always remind me of Abi.
Watch “Underworld – Caliban’s Dream (London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony)” on YouTube
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Just reading through your blog and feeling compelled to comment. You write so beautifully and so movingly. My son was in Abi’s class at secondary. I recognise so much of him in this post. He loved the Olympics too and we went to the torch relay like so many others. Breaks my heart that her life was stopped at this stage and my son still has his life ahead of him. You are in my thoughts.
Oh Sarah, thank you so much for sharing that. Just a small connection with someone who knew of Abi or who can relate to her or her story is a real comfort and in fact warms my heart rather than saddens me. I think we all hug our children that big tighter now. xx
I, too, am finding these winter olympics hard. I think back four years ago when they were in Vancouver, watching the gold medal hockey game. My Love and I cheered so loud and Gift started to cry! We thought we had scared him, but no. He was just so happy that we won. I hope they win again, but only because i know Gift would have loved that.
So sad, it seems the bigger the event the harder it is… I’ll keep an eye on Vancouver too 🙂
Wow, since the 2012 games I’ve held this song close for some reason,
Unfortunately I am now terminally ill and and therefore able to plan my funeral.
I intend to ‘use’ Caliban’s dream as my entrance, I hope they can get the timing right so it is heard in its entirety.
Take care all.