The 6th of April. Oh, so sleepy. Busy day. Woke up at half past eight and decided to get around Scott Mills' leg-shaving ban by using hair removal cream which is a much quicker and more efficient way. Once I'd left the bathroom, I had just under an hour before Rachel was to arrive, so I swiftly moisturised, got dressed and made my face presentable.
She appeared just after twelve, and we had warm beverages and chatted about past and current lives. She was going to visit her grandma and was hoping for a roast dinner, but I discovered later that it was not to be. It's just nice to hang out with old friends who know me and nothing needs to be explained.
After she left, we had some roast lamb, watched The Boat Race (yay Oxford! I support them because Lauren goes there), then Mommy and I left to go to Joely and Tom's wedding reception. We managed to pick the right part of the venue as there were two weddings that day, and luckily we got the right one first time. I sort of latched onto Tom's auntie who was lovely and we compared kitties. Joely looked stunning, and Tom's suit was super=fancy. Gayle, Stu and Georgia Routledge were there too, so we spent the evening together, taking photos and queueing for the buffet. I had a really lovely chat with Matt, who was a tiny bit emotional because we've all had a fair bit of tragedy in our lives, and we had to have a hug. All our lives are so difficult in different ways and we're just forced to deal with it. It sucks.
The 7th of April.
Peaches Geldof died today. She was twenty five. Bob's statement reads "Peaches has died. We are beyond pain. She was the wildest, cleverest, wittiest and most bonkers of all of us. Writing 'was' destroys me afresh. How is this possible that we will not see her again? How is that bearable? We loved her and will cherish her forever. How sad that sentence is."
I will be the first to admit that when younger, I was not her biggest fan, mainly because I was envious of the life I perceived her to have. More recently, I came to admire the young woman she had grown into, and her sudden death feels all the more poignant considering her proximity to my own age and my current set of circumstances.
I think her father's statement is particularly heartbreaking, because he puts across so eloquently the all-encompassing and brutal shock of death. My family will feel that way when I go, no matter how much warning we all have.
I think, especially after last night, that loving and being loved are the most important things.