Not Forgotten

I was in the middle of an experiment today, busy scraping cells off of dishes (about as interesting as it sounds) and letting my mind wander as it usually does. I began to think about a year ago - when i was saying goodbyes to various people back home in the UK and something suddenly hit me. A year ago today, I said goodbye to my Grandma Bell (my mother's mother) not knowing back then that it would actually be the last time I would see her as, sadly, she passed away earlier this year. Whilst this may sound like something that would be quite a shock to realise, it actually didn't bother me that much - in the sense that when my grandma died, I found it hard to get too upset about it - mainly as she had made her peace with everyone, had lived a reasonable length life (83) and ultimately died in her sleep. Plus, with being over here, there was a definite sense of detachment. Plus, I always try to be optimistic about death - i believe you should never be sad someone has died, more happy that they have lived.

Anyway, i'm digressing. What this actually made me think all the more is how much can change in a year - and how being over here is probably going to make it seem even more so (for some reason, change doesn't seem as big when you're in the same country). But when I think about this time last year, and the major events that have happened, both on a global scale, and on a more personal note both for me, family and friends. This is the sort of time when you start thinking about what might have happened by this time next year (alas, Bush will still be President, but maybe Blair will have been unceremoniously booted out of office). And just when i thought that my train of thought couldn't get any more philosophical for a Tuesday, i finished my scraping of cells and had to go on and do something else. So you all were spared.