When I was 17

When I was 17 my best friend and the boy I thought I would be with forever suddenly died. We had a flat together in Eden Terrace and were planning our future together. He would be a chef, I would be a photographer. We would own our own restaurant and my photos of our world trip would cover the walls.

When he died my world froze. In the days before his funeral I couldn't believe the world could carry on as if nothing had happened.

The weeks following his death I would watch people enter the foodcourt I was working in and wonder why they weren't dead and why he was. I would watch the escalator bringing people down into the foodcourt to eat for lunch. First I would see their feet, then their legs, then their bodies, until finally their head. In that small window of time I would imagine that those feet I could see were his, his legs, his body....But the face of a stranger appearing was a sudden reminder. Loneliness. Abandonment. Loss.

Down that mine are lovers, brothers and sons. My thoughts are with you Greymouth. Let us not give up hope yet.