Thursday, February 24, 2011

Hugs!

Today, on my flights to Invercargill, I met two strangers who had been directly affected by the Christchurch earthquake. One was returning to his damaged home after having been away on holiday when the earthquake happened. The other was a woman who scrambled out of her office building on Cathedral Square as it collapsed around her. Today she was escaping from the horrors of the aftershocks. As the plane left Christchurch I noticed that she was silently weeping. I gave her a hug and we wept together.
Del battled wind, rain and cold to reach Balclutha today. He's tiring now - so near his goal and yet still nearly 140kms to go! He was feeling energy less and lethargic. In his own words he'd "hit the wall". He was in serious need of a hug but had to make do with a telepathic one. His mood revived instantly when he learned that Julie and I were in Invercargill waiting for him. He'll head towards Gore tomorrow but, as the trip is over 70kms and hilly in parts, he may do it over two days instead. We'll try and meet up with him tomorrow somewhere along the way and give him some encouragement, a decent meal - and a big hug!

1 comment:

Kim, Wayne and Havana said...

Huge big hugs from us in New York.