About an hour or so ago, I heard some commotion outside and chose to ignore it? After a while I heard screams and wailing and looked out to see a bunch of children huddled around someone lying on the floor. Everyone and everything seemed frantic and I stood there for about 5 minutes watching wondering what had gone on. It looked like there’d been a fight, certainly sounded like it earlier and I thought to myself was it a stabbing or a fist fight, boy or girl? The boy (found out later), must have passed out at some point because there was wailing . It is at this point that I decided to call 999. I wasn’t sure any of them had and I certainly didn’t want to feel guilty later if something tragic were to have happened.
Once the ambulance had arrived and I was alone with my thoughts again I started to ask myself why I’d stood there and watched for that long before calling for an ambulance. As I stood watching, a lady from across the street shouted out “that’s the ill of teenage drinking!” could that be it? I just figured it’s a teenage thing so no need to stress myself? Is that what we have become? Citizens unconcerned with the growing ills of the youth? Teenage stabbings and drinking have become so “popular “we don’t even bat our eye lids and they are certainly not news worthy anymore. But given that we watch tailor-made news with all the trimmings you’d think that society solved this one sometime last year.
I am raising a daughter in this very society where so many ills have just become something we read in the paper or watch on the news and we just roll our eyes and say “not again?”! have we been reduced to people who wake up and go to work, pay our bills, eat, sleep, wake up and do it all again. What is the meaning of life, what does it mean to be alive? Do we have a purpose anymore or are we just happy to exist; locked away in our homes far from the sirens and madness of the “decaying society”.
The reality about life is that a problem is never really a problem until it is right on your doorstep. It’s never quite personal until it happens to you or someone you love. Granted, in this day and age there is just so much going on that one feels they cannot begin to be concerned about it all. But what about a general consciousness? Are you conscious of the problems teenagers are facing , are you conscious of the challenges their parents face. We live in a world where facts are thrown at us daily and from it we build opinions and perceptions and somehow think that is enough. We don’t have to know everything, we just have to care.
I often wonder what the world I live in would be like if people just cared: Cared about themselves, their family, their neighbours and friends. If there was a shift in the thinking of society at large, the “ills” of the world wouldn’t just be something we read in the papers, it would be something we ought to deal with. And it starts at home. It’s not enough to say that it’s the times we are living in. Care to think of the one crime/sin/immoral behaviour that you find despicable and imagine it so rampant that everyone is just rolling their eyes each time it’s mentioned. Would you be so moved then? Would you care?
I found myself lacking tonight. And although I eventually did something I faced a few home truths. I need to care more. I need to care about myself, my family, my friends; I need to care about humanity. Hopefully in so doing I won’t ever have to question my purpose in life again.

What is it with weddings that gets us all teary-eyed; well, some of us! Is it the way they look into each others eyes as they say their vows or  is it just watching other people cry. That certainly sends me into a mini sob! (yes i am that person behind you in the cinema sniffing away!)

As you have obviously gathered I was at a wedding recently; my granddaughter got married (I know, I look good for my age!). Attending weddings is  a luxury in the UK. It’s not like in Africa, well Zimbabwe to be precise where , try as you might to stick to a guest list you are most likely to have double the intended attendance. In the UK, 200 guests means exactly that. I had the privilege of being a witness to the commencement of my grandchild’s new life as a married woman.

The current verdict on marriage is hardly encouraging and the celebrities do not do us any favours really. Can we go through a month without talk or mere whispers of  a messy divorce? I have observed in my years of  living  that the journey to the union of marriage varies for so many people and is not so important as is the mindset that you carry through into the marriage and the choices that you make in it. One thing that resonated with me on this day was something that the Pastor said. I cannot remember it word for word but he said something to the effect that marriages do not fail, people fail!

I have come to realise that there is hardly any advise that you will hear that you haven’t heard before or haven’t thought through yourself. But somehow we get caught up in the daily grind of life, we forget! It is not just that we attend weddings to bear witness to the ceremony and of course celebrate the beautiful union; it is also a great reminder to us of why we got married in the first place and what it actually means to be married.

Undoubtedly marriage can be taxing, as is any relationship. But through it all we build on the love that got us to this place, we create beautiful memories, bring new life into this world and we endure all the trials of this world knowing that we have someone to lean on.