Splendid Grief

Splendid grief. Two words that don’t go together? I heard
them used by Sir Nicholas Soames MP in relation to his grandfather Sir Winston
Churchill, and specifically to the full State Funeral given him in 1965. Fifty
years on, there’s been a lot of reflection this week as to what Churchill
achieved.



It was unusual for a ‘commoner’ to be given such recognition
with a State Funeral, and the occasion was both solemn and a celebration of a
man who led a nation to victory against the Nazi’s. Grief. But splendid too. It
would have be a very different world without him.



As I reflect on the loss of two dear friends from cancer,
one at quite a young age, the words come back to me. As we celebrated their
lives, there was genuineness about the celebration. But grief too. Lives taken
too soon.



It would have been a very different world without them. Splendid
grief.