An early start today! Awoke to the sound of thunder and rain !! Absolutely great stuff - not. So that was me like a bear with a sore head already!!
For the first 45 mins my entire walk from Aberaeron towards Newquay was dominated with me getting a soaking !! - stop laughing!
Getting wet was fine (I had been blessed with the weather up to now!) but not realising my backpack was also getting a soaking wasn't !! - obviously forgot to apply the rain cover! I'm sure the kegs I'm wearing now are still slightly damp :)
After miles of cussing the heavens for the downpour they inflicted on me, the big man must've been listening !! Sunshine reappeared !
I eventually got to Newquay, where I quickly popped into a cafe to ditch my drenched clothing - didn't think they'd be worth much on EBay ;)
I then met up with Rachel, her husband Will and their lovely daughters. Rachel lost her dad to MND and does a lot of important fundraising in the Cardiff area herself.
Rachel had drawn the short straw and accompanied me from Newquay to Cwm Tudy.
Despite an early wrong turn down to a fish factory and a few complete soakings on the way, we made excellent progress and it was good to share our stories etc (hope I didn't bore you too much Rach!).
In fact they left me at the right time I think, because 5 mins later I was climbing yet another beast of a mountain (familiar theme running through these blogs mate !!)
In fact - you need to let me know if these blogs are starting to bore you ? There's only so many coastal images you can look at, right ???
Today was a lot easier, terrain-wise and in terms of mileage than yesterday.
I could've done without participating in a wet t-shirt competition but hey ho it was only temporary ;) - luckily for you I have no photos of that !
I came around the final mountain and Llangranog was a welcome site indeed !
But after the last week, I'm completely bushed, so I've hit the sack early in anticipation for my welcomed rest day tomorrow (the last one I have until Aug 18th!! now).
And tomorrow I get to see my wonderful family and I cannot wait !
We've collected over £80 from the collection box over last few days !!
And a friend of mine, David McNally, (cheers mate!) raised £200 auctioning Ashes tickets off!
Another friend sent me this apt quote this morning:-
"It is only in sorrow bad weather masters us; in joy we face the storm and defy it"
Despite my Karl Pilkington impressions mate (an idiot abroad), I am enjoying myself - not because I get to drink the odd pint of apples in peace, but because I know for a fact that this is now working ! Awareness continues to spread. We even had a mention on BridgeFM today apparently!! Still waiting for Derek the Weatherman to give me a ring though :)
Take pride in the person you are Gar. Your immovable strength is inspiring people.
Hey Justin,
ReplyDeleteGareths words to you as always - well done, keep going!!
Tracy - As you know I went to see the award winning film last night called 'I am breathing'. (see link at end for the official description).
I just wanted to share my personal perspective on the film.
First of all, it's true that it shows very honestly and in some detail the daily existence of someone with MND in the last months of his life. It can be described as sad, poignant, maybe even shocking for those who have not been in the home of someone with MND.
However I found it amazingly well done........it was interesting, captivating, visually stunning in parts, funny and heartwarming. Neil's words taken from his blog were so honest and funny at times and from someone living in a similiar situation (not the same as Neil could still speak and eat whereas Gareth can't do either now) I can appreciate how brave Neil and his family were to let their private life be filmed during such difficult times.
This is going to sound strange but - I found it weirdly comforting to see what we live through being shown on screen, comforting because even though we have lots of amazing support unless someone has lived through exactly what you are going through they can't possibly understand it. Yet here I was seeing things we deal with every day by someone else and it made me feel not so alone in our experience. I have no idea if anyone can grasp what I'm trying to say here - perhaps anyone reading this who unfortunately has had a similar experience can relate to this.
Some of the words Louise said could have come right out of my mouth and some thoughts Neil shared I know Gareth feels.
It didn't feel depressing to me to watch but maybe that's because I've learnt to deal with grief on a daily basis or perhaps it was because it was such a great film!
One thing I did come away thinking was........almost with his last breath - the last blog he dictated the night before he died - his unwavering aim of his blog and the film was to raise awareness. It was such a focus for him and I understand that there does come a time in this journey when raising awareness of this dreadful disease becomes so important - not only to us but also to people who care for Gareth.
And this film has raised awareness of MND in an unprecedented global way!
How proud his wife and family must be of Neil and his son will be when he grows up and sees it.
Neil - wherever you are, thankyou for what you did for all MND sufferers.
Everyone - I would say go see it, it's an amazing film which might make you cry but will also make you think about life in general. Neil was unbelievably brave in making this film.....how many of us will be brave enough to watch it?
We MUST talk about MND, the devastating effect it has on families even though its hard and we might shed a few tears, otherwise we will never be able to change the future.
Please share/discuss it/ look it up...Neil left this with us to share awareness lets honour him by doing so!
www.iambreathingfilm.com
Xx
Ps Justin keep walking! X