A sobering thought

After all the excesses of Christmas and New Year, it's time for a sobering thought.

In September 2006, my aunt Jane (Liese) van Santen died of endometrial sarcoma about a year after diagnosis, just short of her 54th birthday. The drugs were useless and there was nothing anyone could do. But my point is this: I have now reached the age where I have outlived her, and it's a weird feeling.

She was like a big sister to me, and it seems odd that her daughter, Katie (my cousin), is twenty-five years younger than me. My thoughts go out to her too - next to my immediate family she is the most precious person in the whole world, yet fate has cursed her with suffering ME (myalgic encephalopathy) which confines her some of the time to a wheelchair or scooter. It is a terrible shame for someone who has a Masters in Marine Biology, a teaching qualification, and who used to be a qualified diver. My love is with her and her mum today.

Jack Orchison, 5 January, 2014.