The Gaps
Thank you all for coming to the burial yesterday. It meant a lot to all of us.
Some of you have asked me to post the poem I read out loud. So here it is:
THE GAPS
(by Mike Mindel)
Those gaps between my thoughts,
Are full of you.
Idle chat today,
My eyes flick away,
Resting on a nothing,
That was because of you.
You fill the moments when the world isn’t there.
You slow dance in my soul,
And I feel blessed with your current.
Let’s not waste the gaps,
With words overheard,
Ill thoughts that are stirred,
With events absurd.
Come close in-between my love.
You see.
Even these words just seem to fill the space
Where you should be.
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Dear Mike,
I am so sad to hear that Maggy has left us. I knew her when we were both at school together, Queenswood, from the age of 9 to 15. I recently started to work for Ruth at the London Workshop company and Maggy saw my name on the session leaders list and called me up. It was so wonderful to hear from her after all those years, she sounded so happy when I spoke to her. She spoke a lot about being married - it feels now in retrospect that she felt it was a great achievment (if that doesn’t sound too strange a thing to say?) and that she was so proud to be married.
We were brilliant friends at school, particularly in the later years. We had our ups and downs to begin with, but we were only nine and thrown into this crazy boarding school life with family scattered all over the world and little to anchor us or to help us find a balance. But I think that is what made us friends in the end.
My family remember Maggy as this dark curly haired bundle of cheekiness and questions, and I remember her as my friend who adored exploring life by grabbing it head on and by dodging it with her imagination. We sadly lost contact after I left Queenswood at 15, and I was so excited to hear from Maggy again.
I can only imagine how you must be feeling at the moment, and I would love to talk with you and share my memories of Maggy from when we were young. Please do email me anytime on nicole@audiobalm.com
Ruth has told me that she is hoping to put together an event to celebrate Maggy and to raise money for a charity of your choice. I am hoping to play at the event (I am a musician and play in a band) so perhaps we will meet up. I have a song that I think Maggy would have liked, and I hope you don’t mind but I would like to write the lyrics for you, for Maggy. The song is called Broken…
Broken
Well there are two of me
One for myself and one for all to see
And you may think your verbal strikes you fling at me
Will hurt
But it’s not me they hit you see
Oh, I’m once removed from myself
I’ve left a piece for you, and I’m cloaked from view
And impervious to hurt
When I am broken
I can glue myself together
With a lack of emotion
Yes I can
Well I bruise easily
But now, there’s not one blemish on me
Since i created for myself an effigy
To take
The blame and pain for me
Oh, I’m once removed from myself
I left a piece for you
And I’m torn in two and impervious to hurt
When I am broken
I can glue myself together
With a lack of emotion
Yes when I am broken
I can glue myself together
With a lack of emotion
Yes I can
(I would love to send you a copy of the song if you would like to hear it.)
I am absolutely astounded by the artwork you have up on this site. I looked through it all with total wonder. I didn’t know Maggy at all in our adult life, but the pictures resonate with everything I remember about her. It is like violence and vibrance go together hand in hand, like Maggy was able to see the humour and the beauty through the blackness. I think she was immensly brave to battle with this illness for so long.
My thoughts are with you
All the best to you Mike
and Maggy, my love goes out to you, I hope you have found peace.
xx Nicole (Latham Blumberg)
Hi Nicole,
Thanks for your kind words. Really appreciate it.
I would love to hear the song. Please contact me via facebook on www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=616566788.
I think the event would be excellent and look forward to it. It sounds like a really good idea. The ideal charity would be Mind (National Association for Mental Heath) at www.mind.org.uk/. Or even the Royal Free itself as that is where Maggy had to spend a lot of time.
Also, please post your comments from when you were young and I’ll add them to a new post.
Thanks!
-Mike