It’s been another week of mixed emotions for me, and I’m not afraid to admit it.
As some readers may know, our daughter Libby was stillborn in 2012, so as the kids started school this week there was the usual sadness that we weren’t sending our eldest off to P2.
It made the lump in our throats even bigger as our beautiful daughter Melody started P1 this week — a cheeky wee miracle who has us thanking our lucky stars and cherishing every single day.
Our third daughter Heather starts nursery next year, and that will be another milestone that we never envisioned.
Many other parents will have gone through a similar mill this week, a mixture of relief at the end of the summer holidays and the usual uncertainty about what their wee ones will experience or endure as they learn the life lessons we all dealt with as children.
And all of that felt extra pertinent after conversing with the family of Ross McAndrew. I got a message last weekend to say that a memorial bench put up in Ross’ memory at Coul Reservoir had been burnt to the ground.
Ross was just 19 when he died unexpectedly, and the post mortem was inconclusive. More heartbreaking still, his girlfriend had been pregnant, unknown to him, and his son is having to grow up without knowing his dad.
Sometimes this job is horrendous. I have to report the news, and sadly the burning of someone’s memorial bench is news. However, we always contact the loved ones when something like this happens and it was an honour to speak to Ross’ dad Allan on Monday morning – on what should have been his son’s 22nd birthday.
We ran the story on Tuesday and, as expected, we’ve been inundated with messages from people condemning the actions of a mindless minority. I know how difficult Libby’s birthday is when it comes around, so I’m at a loss to understand how Allan and Audrey, Ross’ mum, are feeling now the place of comfort they regularly visited with their little grandson has been taken away so cruelly.
It sickens me to think we have people out there who get some sort of joy or entertainment from burning down a bench, which was clearly a memorial to a lad so many people loved.
What possible perverse pleasure can these buffoons have got from it? If they have thoughts in their heads, I’m clinging on to some hope that they have seen the hurt they have caused and will show some remorse.
And if the culprits are caught, I hope they will also feel the full force of the law.
Hell mend them.
