Where Were You When You Heard The News?..........

Where were you when you heard the news,

of the Victorian Bushfire's,

The worst natural disaster,

in Australia's History

7th February 2009

(Black Saturday)

I was studying in a,

Grief Counselling course that weekend,

so I didn't realise the extent

of what had happened,

to our beautiful state

until the Sunday night.

As the hours, days, weeks & months

have unfolded

my heart has gone out

to all those who have suffered.

The victims,

The Families,

The Friends,

The Animals and Wildlife,

The Communities,

And too all of us who have watched

this terrible tragedy unfold .

It took me back to when I heard the news that,

"Diana, Princess Of Wales"

had died, in 1997.

I remembered when I had got the chance

to meet her in 1985 in Macedon,

which was after another terrible

bushfire here in Victoria.

Those of,

"Ash Wednesday"

in 1983.

Tears streamed down my face,

as I, and many others,

from around the world

watched as her two

beautiful boys

followed her coffin

through the streets of London

Then, two weeks ago,

Shane, Kimberley and I

woke to hear the terrible news that

Michael Jackson

had been rushed to hospital.

We sat glued to the television

hoping that he would be okay,

Like many others around the world,

our prayers were not answered,

and our hearts were broken,

to hear the news of his death,

at such a young age,

is such a tragedy.

On Wednesday morning,

we stayed up to watch his,

very moving and beautiful memorial service.

The three of us had many tears,

for his friends and family,

Especially his children.

And this is where I would like to take a few excerpts,

from Michael's memorial service,

To remind us of how special he was.

"Michael was one of a kind" - Brooke Shields.

"Wasn't nothing strange about your daddy,

it was strange what you Daddy,

had to deal with,

but he dealt with it anyway" - Rev Al Sharpton.

"Gone too soon" - Usher.

"Someone that taught us to love,

Someone that taught us to hope,

Believe in your dreams" - Rev Al Sharpton.

"How much pain can one take,

maybe now Michael they will leave you alone" - Marlon Jackson.

Then Michael's' beautiful daughter said:

"Ever since I was born,

Daddy was the best father you could ever imagine,

And I just wanted to say I Love Him so much" - Paris Jackson.

And the words sung by,

Germane Jackson,

to Michael's favourite song,

"Smile".

"Smile though your heart is aching,

Smile even though its breaking,

When you in, there are clouds in the sky,

You'll get by,

If you smile, with your fear and sorrow,

Smile, you're maybe tomorrow,

You'll find that life is still with wealth,

If you just,

Light up your face with sadness,

Hide every trace of gladness,

Hearts that will heal will be ever so dear,

That's the time you'll must keep on trying,

Smile, there's no use in crying,

You'll find that life is still wealth,

If you just,

Smile though your heart is aching,

Smile even though its breaking,

When you in, there are clouds in the sky,

You'll get by,

If you smile with your fear and sorrow,

Smile you're maybe tomorrow,

You'll find that life is still wealth,

If you just smile,

That's the time when you must keep on trying,

Smile, there's no use in crying,

you'll find that life is still with wealth,

If you just smile.

After watching this,

I felt that Shane, Kimberley and I

should go to the beach

and remember to

"SMILE"

So we went & had afternoon tea

at our little Cafe

attached to the local general store.

These are

Shane and Kimberley's hands

together on the beach

The Following pictures

are of

Shane and Kimberley

on this beautiful winter's day

R.I.P.

Michael

We will always remember you

with a

SMILE

Our hearts and thoughts go to your

Children

xxxx