Mummy went to a funeral of friend today. She told me that Peter Maddick was a colleague and a friend when she was at De Beers. They haven’t seen each other since they both left more than 14 years ago. Earlier this year, Peter sent Mummy an email on Facebook – they were planning on getting together – and he wanted to meet me.
But such were their schedules, they never made it. In the meantime, Peter had published a book “Once Upon A Time in The Sixties” – and Mummy forgot to attend the book launch!!! She told me she forgets things easily these days!
When she reached out again in July, Peter was in Mallorca for the summer. He would call when he got back after the summer. September came and Mummy emailed Peter but never heard back. Then last week, she got an email from one of their ex-colleagues that he had passed away from an aggressive form of cancer.
Mummy reflected on the times when we are too busy to see friends. But then we never know when something would happen. She just wished she had seen him for one more time – to have had that rose on a lovely Spring Day to talk about old times. And I would have met him too – because he reached out after reading about me in Mummy’s Facebook postings.
May’s comment: At Peter’s funeral, I saw so many old faces I haven’t seen in such a long time. We have all grown older but the faces, the expressions were still there. And it seemed so surreal to think that one of us – the old gang is no longer with us.
