TODD...
May He Rest in Peace
My wife and I have spent the past four weeks travelling around Tasmania. When you are retired, this is the sort of thing, ‘retirees’ do. What an absolute beautiful ‘State’ it is. The country side is picture perfect, the history is fascinating and the old buildings dating back to the early 1800’s are simply amazing. If it wasn’t so cold here in winter, we would consider living here. On one of our days wandering around, we ended up at a place called ‘Gardiners Point’. It is situated at the far, North-West coast of Tasmania and has the longest uninterrupted expense of ocean on earth. This is why a plaque has been placed with the inscription, ‘The Edge of the World’. As it was after 1 o’clock, we stopped at a Tavern to get a counter lunch. We were told by the barman that no meals were being served as within the hour, the place was booked out for a memorial service. He said that it was for a twenty year old that recently took his own life. As I looked around there were photos on every
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wall of him with family and friends in different stages of his life. We didn’t want to pry and ask questions, but was told that ‘Todd’, was actually due to be married in the next few months and the pub was going to be venue where the reception was going to be held. My wife and I felt so sad. We finished our beer and drove down to the beach, (which was close by) and then saw many cars parked on the side of the road. I would have estimated well over 100. We noticed then, the cemetery. This town only consisted of a pub and a general store but every person from miles around must have been there to mourn the death of this young lad. It brought back our sadness of what we had seen. I am writing this to ask, R-U-O-K? Please. If you are not, talk to someone. You may feel that you’re on the ‘Edge of the World’ but taking your life is not the solution. You will affect so many peoples’ lives who will blame themselves for not doing more to help you.
