Ripples

It’s long been a source of fascination to me how every decision we make, however small or irrelevant it seems at the time, impacts on the rest of the world.  Even more amazing are the combinations of decisions which affect our and so many other peoples lives.

You can take this back as far as you like but our family arrived at a point where my wife, Lizzie had decided, with daughter in law Jenny’s encouragement, to enter the Race for Life in July 2010.

Now, Lizzie suffers with Multiple Sclerosis which is a  horrific disease causing debilitating weakness.  So the decision to enter a 5k race was not taken lightly.

We knew it would be a walk rather than a run and off we went hunting down sponsors.  Eventually Lizzie and Jenny raised over £1000 for cancer charities in the 2010 event.  That’s pretty amazing, but not the point of this story.

Now, somewhere else, in another family, on another day, in another place, someone else decided to enter the Race for Life. The entrant was another hero as she was battling cancer herself.  We will never know how this decision was reached nor what lead to a special crossing (literally!) of paths.  We don’t even know her name.

So! To the 2010 race day itself. While we were walking the course, we were passed by a lady using a walking frame.  We exchanged pleasantries and got on with the business of putting one foot in front of the other.  This was the other hero of my story.

Now here’s the special bit.

When Lizzie and Jenny finally reached the finish line, hours after everyone else had finished and gone home, the reception they received was wonderful.  Most of the organising and support crew were still there and, rightly, gave Lizzie and Jenny a wonderful welcome home.

But sitting over to one side was a lady in a wheelchair, waving; the lady who had passed us earlier.  We saw her and went to thank her for waiting for us.  What she said took our breath away.  She said she had walked the Race the previous year and she had come home last.  By the time she reached the finish, everyone, even the organisers and crew, had packed up and gone home.  She had no-one to welcome her and share her achievement.

She had therefore vowed to wait at the finish line until Lizzie came home, to make sure there was someone there to welcome her.

After a few tears, we expressed our heartfelt gratitude, said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.

Now, fast forward a year.

Lizzie, rather rashly in my opinion (but since when did what I think ever stop her!) decided to enter the Race for Life again.  So!  We re-grouped at Prospect Park, Reading on a VERY wet and blustery day dressed for a monsoon, which duly obliged.

Yet again, Lizzie amazed us all with her sheer bloody minded determination to reach the finish line, which she did, an amazing 15 minutes quicker than last year.

Again, the reception was wonderful.  The support crew welcomed her home, ambulance sirens blairing, people cheering and applauding what was a fantastic effort.

In amongst all the celebrations, we noticed an elderly couple by the finish line, waving and cheering along with everyone else.  Some of our party went to speak to them and noticed that the man was in floods of tears and the lady was obviously upset as well.

After a few moments it became apparent that this couple were the parents of the lady we had met the previous year.

Sadly, earlier that year, she had lost her battle with cancer.

But before she passed way, she had made her parents promise to go to the Race for Life and be there at the end for the lady with MS.

There were many more tears before we parted; probably never to meet again.  This lovely couple will never get over the loss of their daughter but what a wonderful way to secure the memory of her in so many other people.

We hope that they eventually find peace and enjoy the memory of a special lady, who simply wanted to be there to welcome home another hero.

Now this is not some romantic tale I have woven from my imagination.  It is a true story involving real people who have taken a few hours out of their lives to do something very special.

Heartwarming?  Yes. Tearful?  Definitely.  Life affirming?  Certainly.

The ripples will eventually die away but I, for one, will not forget.

Written by: Colin Spicer