Monday, October 7, 2013

Padi fundraising

With the help of the good people at CLIC Sargent, I've had a justgiving team page set up in memory of Pads. This means that anyone who is fundraising in future through justgiving can make their page a part of his 'team' so that they have their own page but the money shows on the team page as well. We may be able to get the funeral director's page associated in this way too. There's also a 'donations' page which we can use to put up any further donations we or CLIC Sargent get sent.
How are we doing? That varies a lot. Time passes, which helps. As you know, we also have a wonderfully supportive church fellowship, where Ally's taken on leading Sunday School - everyone says she's very good at it. The kids are all settled back into school. I'm back full-time now. My secondment will conclude at the end of this month.
It was great to see Will (Ally's brother), Vic and Elias, over from Australia. They have followed every detail of our story from afar. We visited the grave and shared meals together and then the whole of Ally's family met in Marlow for a get-together. It was strange not to have Pads there - rocky road dessert was ordered in memory of a previous gathering when, being on steroids, he'd scoffed one 'unassisted'.

2 comments:

Goosepimple said...

Don't know you or your family but I have children at YMB too and somehow came across your blog. It is very moving. As you continue to establish your lives without his physical presence, how wonderful that you have so many photographs of him clearly living such a happy life with his brothers and sister. Your
loss is unimaginable; he sounds like a truly incredible young man.

Mike Johnson said...

Many thanks for your kind words. We were involved with YMB for 14 years. SO many of the staff came out to the funeral it really was a testimony to their values.
Yes, the loss of Padi is a heavy one and we sometimes wonder what he would be like to have about the place without pain or disease. Soon enough we will not have to wonder because the reality of where he is now in his perfected state is way and far more glorious than any 'potential' he could have realised in this life.