I’m a bit unsure about how to write about this.
Last week, a friend of the family was tragically killed in a car crash. I wasn’t particularly close to this person, but she was one of these people that was always present at the large family get togethers, and always a delight to talk to. Strikingly intelligent lady.
It’s times like this you begin to appreciate your own mortality.
My grandmother died from cancer earlier this year, but as she’d suffered from the illness for some months, I think we were all prepared when she passed away, and while I miss her dreadfully, I think that I did have the opportunity to say goodbye, and I am thankful for that. Yes, there are always things you wish you could say to them, and I had wished that she would be at my wedding. I know that her spirit will be with us though.
However, in the case of such a sudden death, I can only begin to wonder how her husband, who used to teach at my primary school, is feeling. He was also in the car at the time, but escaped with cuts and bruises. However, I think the mental scars are something that would take much longer to heal, if ever.
A day never goes by without hearing of some death or other, and they always happen to ‘other’ people, yet when these tragedies happen close to home, I think you begin to appreciate that ‘tomorrow’s chip paper’ is really more than that. J. told me of a person she has befriended on the internet, who lost her husband to throat cancer shortly after getting married. She is now fronting a campaign encouraging people to ‘do something they have never done before’, as you never know what will be on ‘tomorrow’s chip paper’
R.I.P. my thoughts are with you.
I finally got my hakama today 
Although I graded 1st Dan back in July, In our Aikido association, Dan Grades enter a probationary phase where they still wear the brown belt and collect black bars towards full Dan Grade status.