Bangladesh family..

The mother of a friend of mine died yesterday. A tragic loss; another casualty. A fresh reminder of the fleeting nature of life. One thing that lingered in my mind all day was from a message she sent...

Please remember to tell your family and friends you love them everyday because you never know when someone dear to you will be taken.

Yes - we know it, but I just wanted to remind you of it. It really hit home to me last night when I got a message from Bangladesh........

I grew up listening to The Beatles... and was very familiar with the happenings in Bangladesh in the 70's, courtesy of George Harrison.



Knowing about a country, and taking a slightly keener interest in it when your children live there, are two different things.

Last night we heard there was a city wide curfew in Dhaka. We only heard about it because James and Jess immediately wrote to us to say they were ok, but as the city curfew had started at 3pm, they had been trapped and unable to get home. The buses were full.... so they took refuge at a friends house. As the news had only broken on the BBC by then, and it was late at night, we were blissfully unaware of any issue until they were already safe. I thought of the message from my friend... I didn't sleep too well, even knowing they were safe.

This morning, as there was nothing in the New Zealand news about it, which is not actually surprising, I did a wee google search for "Bangladesh unrest". It took me a while to filter out all the graphic images of fights and soldiers and fires from the past four years... and I had to redo it as "Bangladesh unrest 2009" to find yesterdays news.

Mutinous Border Guards in Bangladesh

Bangladesh rebels mutiny, agree to surrender

Bangladeshi guards revolt over pay in the capital

Bangladesh Unrest

It appears to have been a minor skirmish, but a rickshaw driver died and 15 were injured. I think it is the idea of having to follow a curfew at 3pm, for the whole city, to let the army get through the streets that I find hard to follow.... trying to imagine imposing it here in Christchurch!

Still, every country has unrest, fights, shootings.... I am not singling out Bangladesh. It was just that I was aware that stupid stuff like this can happen to anyone at any time... as Phoebe's mum said recently, "Hit by Bus" scenarios.

So, just wanted to take the opportunity to say "I love you" to my children, my wonderful parents, my lovely partner (who hears it all the time but won't object to a repeat :), to Phoebe's family and the many other friends who matter in my life.

I hope you will all do the same.