Posts Tagged ‘Reamonn Gormley’

Victims

Posted: June 5, 2011 in family, friendship, Glasgow, Glasgow, Health, heaven, life, love, music, pray, prayer, religion, Scotland, work
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Read any newspaper or any on-line news page or turn your TV onto any news programme and you’ll find there’s nearly always news of someone somewhere having been murdered or seriously injured in what is said to be “an unprovoked attack”. Tragic events which shock the community in which the crime has taken place. Tragic events which devastate families and friendships.

It’s at these times when we as Christians are compelled to pray that God will provide comfort and solace to all those affected by the tragedy. In the days that follow the tragedy we continue to pray for the family and friends of the person killed.

In February this year the nephew of one of my managers was murdered in Blantyre in an unprovoked attack. At this time the community of Blantyre, the family and friends of Raemonn Gormley all voiced their disbelief and devastation at the death of a wonderful young man – I wrote about some of this in two blog posts in February, A Black Friday and Life Is Fragile.

Well on Friday this week the two men charged with Reamonn Gormley’s murder appeared in court in Glasgow. Meanwhile, one of Reamonn’s aunts, my manager, was at work…I was with my manager when she got news from her family on how things had gone at court…all I can say is she was very understandably emotional.

You can read details of the outcome of the accused’s appearances in court on the BBC website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-13642552

If I’m honest I must admit that I stopped praying specifically for her, her family and Reamonn’s friends a number of weeks ago. It’s almost as if just because the immediate aftermath and media attentions, the funeral etc were all over, so the events of that tragic day and it’s impact of them, had gone from my mind. I felt very guilty, I felt I had failed as a Christian as although I had prayed for my manager’s family at the time of Reamonn’s death, I have failed to continue to offer the kind of support that both she and her family have needed.

The grief and devastation felt by the family and friends of any murder victim lasts a lifetime, not just a few days, weeks or months. So I ask that you like me, you will make a promise today to continue to pray for the families and friends of all murder victims, no matter whether the crime occurred yesterday, last week, last month, last year or indeed many years ago. Their pain and grief will never go away, although through our prayers and our support we can help them be strong enough to face another day in the knowledge that God is always with them, and that their loved one is at peace in God’s presence.

How’s It Going?

Posted: February 28, 2011 in blogging, dementia, family, friendship, Health, heart, life, love, music, pray, religion, Scotland, work
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

So we’re now almost at the end of the last day in February of 2011, so how’s 2011 been for you so far?

Personally, this year’s not been the best so far for various reasons (some of which I’ve talked about in other blog posts this year). Here’s just a few things that have made this year disappointing so far:

  • I’ve not been at work yet this year, beacuse I’ve been off sick
  • Worries about the health of various members of my family
  • Concern for a relative who is now in care

Added to this, February is always a particularly difficult month for hubby as, both his mum and his sister died on February – his sister died 19 years ago and his mum 8 years ago. In addition, both their birthday’s would have been in February.

Just to make this February even worse, one of my uncle’s died and Mum, Dad, hubby and I weren’t well enough to travel to Ipswich for the funeral. I was also shocked and deeply saddened by the murder of 19 year old Reamonn Gormley in Blantyre at the beginning of February, particularly as he was the nephew of my manager at work.

So as you can see even from this very brief overview of my year so far, I’ve not had the best of years.

Whatever this year has held for you so far, I pray that we may all find the coming months ones full of happiness and joy, or if that is not God‘s plan for us, that we will rely on God for all we need in times of difficultly and stress.

Bring on the rest of 2011!

Tears

Posted: February 8, 2011 in dementia, family, friendship, Health, heart, life, love, music, pray, religion, work
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
1

Tears of joy or tears of happiness, each happen for a reason, and each can touch the hearts of not just the person who is shedding the tears but those around them.

So what makes you cry?

A few years ago I would have told you that very little makes me cry, however over the last few years I’ve found that many things seems to start my tears flowing. Even in the last few weeks I’ve shed tears for a number of reasons, here’s just a few of them:

  • My Dad’s deteriorating health
  • Mum re how she’s coping with Dad
  • Death of my Uncle Michael
  • Murder of a 19 year old boy (who turned out to be the nephew of one of my managers at work)
  • Health concerns for my hubby
  • My own health concerns
  • Listening to specific pieces of music
  • Just being fed up with how life is going at present

So most of my reasons for crying recently have been because I’ve been upset about something, but why is it that sometimes we cry when good things happened too? (you can read more about some of these situations in my blog post from last Friday entitled A Black Friday).

Whether it’s something that’s upset us or something which makes us extremely happy, our emotions are stirred and that’s what causes us to cry. That’s why after crying, and releasing some of our built up emotions, we often feel better – though this is not always the case.

How do you feel when you see someone else crying?

Personally I often find myself getting emotional when I see someone else crying, even if I have no idea why they are upset. Is it just the empathy we feel for other’s pain that makes me do that? Probably.

Whatever makes you shed a tear for either your own or someone else’s situation or circumstances, take it to the God – He can ease your pain. God knows and understands how we feel and knows and can provide what we need to help us through the situation.

Life Is Fragile

Posted: February 5, 2011 in family, friendship, Health, life, love, music, religion
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
2

If ever I’ve been reminded of how fragile life is, it has been this last week.

On Wednesday I saw and read the local news stories about a young 19 year old lad, Reamonn Gormley, who was killed in an unprovoked attacked in Blantyre late on Tuesday evening. What a terrible loss.

Yesterday in A Black Friday I told you how I discovered that this young lad was actually the nephew of one of my managers at work. What a shock. What a terrible loss.

I also mentioned yesterday that one of my Uncle’s had died on Thursday. He had obviously had a much longer life than Reamonn Gormley, however he is still a great loss to our family.

How quickly and abruptly those we love can be taken from us without warning.

This has reminded me once again that we must never assume those we love know just what they mean to us. So we must regularly tell those we love, just how we feel about them. Remember that if you don’t tell them now, you may never get the chance to, and that is something I know you would always regret.

Don’t let it take someone’s death to remind you how much you love your friends and family.

Share some love by telling those you love just how much they mean to you today, and everyday.

A Black Friday

Posted: February 4, 2011 in family, friendship, life, love, pray, prayer
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2

As the title of today’s post suggests, today has been a bit of a “black” day for me, with a number of upsetting and sad events/news reaching me.

Firstly, I received a phone call from a work mate to let me know that the young boy murdered earlier this week in Blantyre was the nephew of one of my managers. I was obviously shocked by the news and as it began to sink in I felt very numb and useless as words just simply aren’t adequate to express how I feel nevermind how his family and friends must be feeling.

I had read the story of Reamonn Gormley’s murder in the papers on Wednesday – he was killed in an unprovoked attack on Tuesday evening after he left a local pub where he’d been watching the Aberdeen v Celtic football match, to go home. You can read more about this on the STV news site: http://news.stv.tv/scotland/west-central/225927-man-arrested-over-murder-of-reamonn-gormley/

I cannot begin to imagine how Reamonn’s family and friends are feeling, but I do know that many people (including many who never knew Reamonn) will be praying for them at this time. During a time like this I’m sure they may feel God has deserted them, however that couldn’t be further from the truth – God is there and He does care.

Ever since I heard the news I’ve found I can’t get it out my mind, and therefore I’ve spent a lot of time today in quietness praying – Praying that Reamonn’s family and friends will be aware of God’s presence and the comfort and love He can provide for them. I didn’t know Reamonn, however like many others he and his family and friends, have been in my thoughts and prayers today.

The next “black” spot on my day was this afternoon when for a number of hours I experienced some of the worst pain I’ve had in some time. As many of you will know, I’ve struggled with a lot of pain for some time, however today’s was at more severe level than it has been for some time. Thankfully now I’m just about pain free again, so that “blackness” is now more “grey”.

As if my day couldn’t have any more blackness, just before dinner tonight, I got a phone call from my Mum to tell me that my Aunt (my Dada’s sister who lives in Ipswich) had phoned to say my Uncle had died yesterday. He had been in hospital for a few days, but hadn’t been to well for quite some time. Even though my Uncle hadn’t been well for a while it’s still awful when you hear the news that a family member has died. I think for Mum (and probably Dad too), what makes this worse is that because my Aunt and Uncle live in Ipswich, there’s no way they can travel down there to support my Aunt and the rest of their family during this time or for the funeral.

I spent quite a lot of time with my Aunt and Uncle over the years – Mum, Dad and me used to spend most of our summer holidays with my Aunt and Uncle and their family right up until my latter teenage years. I also spent 4 weeks with them in Perth, Australia one summer when my Uncle spent several years working for the university in Perth.

Rest in peace Reamonn. Please keep Reamonn and his family and friends in your prayers during these awful days.

Rest in peace Uncle Michael. Please keep my Aunt and the rest of my family in your prayers in the coming days.

Thank you.