Hard times...
Its not easy being strong all the time, so I'll allow myself to be weak for just a second.
Most of my time here in Edinburgh has been a blast, I have been out with friends, met new people and learned so many new things about myself, but I can't pretend that everything is rosy 24/7 and so I wont! The last few days have been tough, both draining me physically and emotionally as a wave of sickness rolled over NFG resulting in one of our youngest Service Users getting admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with pneumonia.
He, usually the one to stay healthy when everybody is ill, returned home shortly after only to go back to hospital the same day due to worsening conditions and as the days passed things didn't look good. His lung had collapsed and after a couple of days the doctors told us he would not make it.
The news hit us all hard, even me who's only just met him, but he was such a bright spirited character that it was impossible to not be affected by the loss as he passed away the next morning.
Today is the funeral and as much as I would have loved to go, I do realize that the rest of the NFG Staff, some of them having known him for over 15 years, have more right to openly mourn his death. So even though today is my day off, I offered to come into work for a few hours and look after the Service Users so the rest of the Staff can attend the funeral.
Because if it was hard for me, someone who only knew him for a few weeks, I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like for the people who have been living and working alongside him everyday for years.
But I do not regret coming into the project at this difficult time, no, I am grateful that I was lucky enough to have made the acquaintance of such an extraordinary young man who never failed to lighten up the room he was in.
May he Rest in Peace...