Being with inspirational people

I met an amazing lady last night. I was really tired (after sitting up till yon time the night before waiting on Gemma and Alex to arrive home safe and sound) so it was with some reluctance that I headed out the door at 10pm to do a late night shift. But, as is often the case when you’re not looking forward to something, it turned out to be a really good night, simply because of the lady I was working with.

Judy’s in her early sixties and she’s almost blind. She was telling me that she can still see a clear picture in her mind of the Optician’s face when, during a regular eye-test some years ago, he broke the news that there was something seriously wrong with her eyes. The actual details aren’t important here but, basically, it was confirmed soon after – during a hastily-arranged hospital appointment - that she would lose the sight in her left eye within a few months. She was also told that she would lose the sight in her right eye, but it was impossible to predict when that would be. Fairly quickly after that - she described it as someone slowly pulling a blind up – she became blind in one eye. You know when you’re in a swimming pool and you’ve got goggles on and you do that thing of slowly putting your head under the water. The water line on your goggles gradually separates the scene of noisy, splashing children above and the quiet, gentle slow leg movements underneath. From the way that Judy described it, I imagine it being a bit like that, except that the under-water for Judy was complete and solid darkness. The loss of sight in her right eye has, fortunately, been a slower process and she still has some – though very limited and hazy – vision in it.

While she was telling me this story in the wee small hours of last night, Judy was smiling and animated. She explained that once she got over the initial shock, she decided to think of her disability as a chance to discover new things and take a new direction in her life. So, most of her time nowadays is taken up raising awareness of the issues that face blind and partially sighted people and working for a charity that trains and provides canine support workers!  I was so touched when she said that the best thing about her blindness was the opportunity it gave her to meet a whole load of new people: “I’d still have been working in the rat race and never have dreamt of doing voluntary work – so I’d never have met you! So, lots of good things have come out of losing my sight.” I was just bowled over by her positive outlook and zest for life. What an inspiration.

And tonight, I met two amazing young girls. I was really tired (after getting home at 3am from my twilight shift this morning) so it was with some reluctance that I headed out the door this evening for a training session through in Falkirk. The session was pretty heavy going and I struggled to get my head round everything, not just because I was tired, but also because I was anxious about making it back to Stirling in time for a special fund-raising concert that the choir were performing in. Fortunately for me, we weren’t due on stage till 9 o’clock so, after sweet-talking the tutor into letting me leave early, I wellied it along the M9 and made it to the gig with 10 minutes to spare.

The concert was organised by two fantastic young teenage girls, Holly Brown and Madison Anderson, in order to raise money for the Eilidh Brown Memorial Fund. Eilidh died of cancer last March when she was just 15 years old. Her family and friends have raised – and continue to raise - a phenomenal amount of money in Eilidh’s name, in the hope that they’ll someday build a holiday home for other young cancer sufferers and their families.

I didn’t arrive in time to see any of the other acts but, according to Alex and Gemma (who were in the audience) there were some fabulous performances from a variety of young, local bands, dancers, singers and musicians. The choir were last on the list, so the crowd were well warmed up and it was just a brilliant wee gig. What made it even more special for me was the fact that we were performing on the stage in Stirling High School. All of my kids have been on that stage on numerous occasions as Stirling High’s their school! And, I’ve actually been on it once before too! It was in 2008 – not long after the new Stirling High School opened - and I was sitting nervously next to Alex. Both of us were all dressed up in our posh togs, alongside the Rector and some other High Heid Yins, watching Gemma getting presented with her Dux medal. So, it was just lovely to be back on that stage tonight, along with Gordon and all our choir friends, singing some songs at the invitation of young Holly and Madison to help raise money for such an extremely worthwhile cause.

I have to take a wee moment here to mention Gordon’s solo bit. I’ve gone on before, at length, about how delighted I am that the choir now sings Don’t Stop Me Now. Well, John – who usually sings one of the solo parts – couldn’t make it along tonight, so Annie asked Gordon to step in. Consequently, there was Gordon, up on the stage at his own school, in front of a sell-out audience – which was made up of many of his friends, his teachers, his Dad and his big sister – singing “I’m a sex machine, ready to reload, like an atom bomb, About to oh, oh, oh, oh, oh explode!!!” Now, I know I’m really biased, but, aw man, he did a brilliant job – and I was so proud!

Anyway, back to the girls. I was so impressed, both with the manner in which they conducted themselves and with the professional approach they’d taken to putting the concert together. I was bowled over by their enthusiasm and determination to find something positive and worthwhile to do in memory of Eilidh. What an inspirational pair.

So, thanks to Judy, Madison and Holly I’ve had a great couple of nights in the company of fantastic people. Now though, I’m off to my scratcher to catch up on some much-needed sleep - with a very big smile on my face!