I ran on Friday around my village, a very small and quiet Wiltshire village that often feels a million miles away from the modern age (my teenagers agree with me). It’s a unique place, a place of beautiful sunsets and traffic jams involving ducks crossing the road. It is hard to imagine anything bad happening here, and yet on Friday the long arm of international terrorism reached down into this little sanctuary. The awful news about the shootings in Tunisia was shocking enough, but to learn that a lady from our village, and her partner, were amongst the victims was almost unbelievable.
I stopped off on my run in the church and signed the books of condolences. Was it disrespectful that I was in running gear? I don’t think so. Eileen had always been a big supporter of our village sports teams and the village hall so I felt it was highly appropriate.
On my run I thought about how we never know what is around the corner in life, and we cannot know when our time is up. I am sending love and sympathy to Eileen and John’s family and friends and I can’t help but feel a lesson to be taken from this tragedy is to live every moment to the full and to enjoy life.
R.I.P. Eileen Swannack and John Welch.