The Ramblings of my Disorganised Mind

Glad September's over

"Give me something in prose and I'll read"

Righto. Thanks Scott (whose blog is here if you want to read it. I can only assume the URL name is some subtle reference to a certain Kevin Costner film set in Iowa :-P).

I am glad September is over, and not just because of the obvious Sept 11 association. September, 2001 actually has another association. A friend of mine, Tricia Riggs, went missing on September 30, 2001.

September 2004 has been a horror month, internationally. There was the awful, awful hostage situation in Russia, and the bombing of the Australian embassy in Indonesia. The third anniversary of September 11. The third anniversary of September 30.

I don't talk about Tricia much. I often wonder why her disappearance plays so much on my mind: by the time of her disappearance, we were no longer close friends, if we ever were. But Tricia and her husband Ian were a part of some important events of my life: Tricia and I were involved in the Canberra Homebirth Association and BACUP (Birth After Caesarian Unlimited Possibilities) together, the same church for a while, our children are contemporary, we both homeschooled. My ex husband and her husband Ian were friends. Then she and Ian moved to Darwin and we lost touch. I always took it for granted we'd catch up again, someday...

And perhaps that's why. There will never be a "someday". She is, in all likelihood, dead. She was, in all likelihood, murdered. As of today, no charges have been laid, but the file is with the DPP. Trouble is, the possibility of the culprit being who they think it is is equally horrific to the circumstances.

So, it's October. And I can put September behind me. But what of next year?

I've realised that wallowing in the negatives mean that I'm putting too much emphasis on them.

September is Spring Down Under. On the first of September every year, rain, hail, shine or frost (and given the climate of the place I grew up in, the latter was very likely), from the time I was 4 years old to the year I got married and outgrew such "frivolities" (1989, the year I turned 18. Yeah. Do the maths.) I would put on my swimmers and run under a running sprinkler. It used to (understandably) drive my mother nuts, especially on the rainy, frigid, cold days I insisted on doing it! I never could explain why I did that. I just had to. It didn't have to be for long, maybe ten minutes, but I had to do it.

Spring always energised me.

September is teeming with birthdays. My brother on the 3rd. My eldest son on the 8th. A friend's on the 5th. My ex's on the 25th. Another friend's on the 1st. The 2nd. The 13th.

This year, in early September, I was a part of deciding who would attend Clarion South in January 2005 (for more information on that, see http://www.clarionsouth.org). Ringing partcipants and being able to tell them a dream has come true... wow.

So, next year, I will not turn on the news. I will celebrate those birthdays with more gusto than I did this year.

I will get into my swimmers and turn on a sprinkler.

posted by Heather @ 10:44 am