JOURNEY’S END BRINGS THE PROSPECT OF A NEW DAWN

Every end comes suffused with sadness, whether the journey there has been tough or easy.

There is either the stabbing pang of opportunities left unexplored, or the bittersweet regret of a perfect day that could not last forever.

The end also evokes thoughts of the beginning and of all that has been achieved in between. Of memories created, of those lost along the way and those who will no longer be here for future adventures.

When we start out we are promised nothing, except that time will pass and one day run out.

What we do with those times we have is a mixture of, on the one hand, pure luck and circumstance, and on the other the hard work, character and creativity of ourselves and those with whom the roads of our lives intersect.

Through that extraordinary combination do we create an utterly unique experience that, though it could never be long enough, is always worth the living, and sustains and nourishes us through times where, suddenly and palpably, yawning gaps split apart the calendar.

The final sentence may often be one we wished we did not have to read, but that is not where the story is told. Nor does it tarnish or invalidate the tale, or the emotion it evokes in those moments where it flashes unannounced onto the cinema screens of our minds.

It is tough to turn the page when the next one is blank. We know that things will be different, and some will be sorely missed.

But the summer brings growth and healing and in a few weeks we will begin the writing of a new book, with a changed cast of characters. In continuing the record we honour those who have played a part thus far, for it is never truly the end.