Mandela

Twinkle twinkle little star…
Maybe it’s a Japanese saying, but my grandmother told me that when someone passes away, they go up into heaven and when it’s night time, they poke a hole into the earth’s sky and peek through to look at us down here. That’s what we see as stars. I always loved this idea. That whenever someone looks up into the sky and sees the stars, their loved ones are looking down at them from up above. It gives my grandmother comfort and me too.
When I heard about Mandela passing away it shook me for a second. I remember watching him walk out of prison on TV. I will confess that I have a terrible memory. I will remember someone’s name forever once I have decided I like them, but I have great difficulty remembering facts or images. I also have very few memories of being a child. Watching the TV that day, I didn’t understand what was really going on, but I felt like something big was happening as this man walked along the road to freedom.
Working in TV news was an eye-opener. During my first week I was shown the files on both Margaret Thatcher and Nelson Mandela. We had to be prepared for their passing away. We all know death is inevitable, but it still felt weird. I remember when Princess Diana passed away no one was prepared. The newsreaders were not all wearing black ties. Their was no prepared footage for such an unexpected event. However, when Margaret Thatcher passed away, I was prepared. We had footage and we knew who to call.
With Nelson Mandela we were also prepared. He was in hospital so much that at all times we had a suitcase under our desk with clothing ready for 2 weeks in South Africa. His funeral had been planned many years previously. We knew what would happen each day. Who will be in attendance. The route the body will travel… but still, every time I heard a news story about his health I panicked. I didn’t want to be the one who had to travel to South Africa and report on the story. It would be a sad story to tell.
And so, the day has come. It was strange as I no longer check the news all day long for a breaking story. But three minutes after it was announced I randomly glanced at the BBC website and saw the breaking news. It’s strange to think that on a day where people in Syria have no idea what their future holds, dozens died in the Central African Republic amidst fighting and a crazy storm hits Europe, that it is even possible for an old man passing away to make headlines. We all knew this day would come, however it was still shocking. This was no ordinary man who left us today. He was a man who made a difference, a man who was respected by people of all races all over the world. There are so few of these people in the public eye left and when I look up into the night sky today I know I shall see one very twinkly star up there, looking down on us all.