Monday, February 07, 2011
Goodbyes
Last Thursday was a strange, rushed and emotionally exhausting day.
The usual drop-in at St Rollox didn’t run because a memorial was held for a Sighthill man who used to attend many of the church programmes. He didn’t make many Sunday mornings, but was a regular attendee at the drop-in and took part in the Christianity Explored course. Rab was found dead in his flat by his neighbours, who hadn’t seen him for a week. He had died due to an aneurysm. There was a real sense of sadness about Rab’s death, as there was a great difficultly finding next of kin so nobody knew if and when there would be a funeral. Rab was well known in Sighthill, but it seems that not many people really knew him. It turns out that the last time we saw Rab must've been a couple days before he died. It's very sad, but I know on that day that both Emma and I were there and he saw and held Niamh (who he hadn't met before), telling us that she was "a wee cracker!"
Rab was a tall and tough looking guy, usually seen wearing a Misfits beanie and skull earring. But he had an unexpected childlike quality, always keen to help with physical work that needed done. It was hard to know about Rab personally, but I learned bits and pieces from our conversations at St Rollox. He was a keen Rangers supporter, but had never been to a match. He was big into the punk scene in the 70s and always liked to tell a story about how Joe Strummer made eye contact and bashed Rab’s fist at a Clash gig. He had been in a Townhead gang growing up and had been to many ‘rumbles’ in the Sighthill cemetery, but he was adamant that he had "turned his back on that sort of thing." Rab loved taking books and tracts from the church; he must’ve taken 10 different Bibles since I first met him. He was particularly interested in the end times and liked to be reassured that God was ultimately in control.
We began to grow concerned because weeks after Rab’s death, there was no news of a funeral. It was heartbreaking that Rab’s death might pass by without an organised act of remembrance. Eventually the details were sorted out and a memorial was scheduled at St Rollox. We were delighted to see that the church was full of local people there to pay their respects and remember Rab. Some people didn’t know how important local churches had been to him and were appreciative that St. Rollox had managed to the community together to mourn and remember. It caused many to think about their own ask the big questions about their lives.
That so many people showed up took the edge off the sadness and helped to bring closure. Rab was a real character and will be missed.
Thursday was also the day that we said goodbye to our Rwandan friend ‘George’ who got the job on the dairy farm (which I wrote about in a previous post). It all happened very quickly (or too quickly?). He was told on Wednesday that he could start work on Friday, so Thursday we hectically packed up and travelled around the city to sort out his paperwork with the Jobcentre, housing provider, and purchasing a train ticket.
The reality that George was leaving only really hit me as we waited for his train to Carlisle in central station. It seemed to hit him as well and he was clearly nervous about the big changes in store.
Since then, I’ve spoken to George a couple of times on the phone. The work is hard and the hours are long, but he’s pleased to be working again in a job that he knows. He says the other farmers are friendly and his roommate is also a newbie and city boy from Cardiff (it’s nice that he has another guy from out-of-town with him). In particular, he enjoyed learning to drive the tractor. At football on Friday, George’s absence was palpable. He helped to organise football and brought a lot of laughter to our games. Many of the guys were already talking about how much they missed him.
Pray that George will continue to rely on God through this transition. Also pray for his friends at Bishopbriggs Community Church who would’ve liked more time to say goodbye.
The usual drop-in at St Rollox didn’t run because a memorial was held for a Sighthill man who used to attend many of the church programmes. He didn’t make many Sunday mornings, but was a regular attendee at the drop-in and took part in the Christianity Explored course. Rab was found dead in his flat by his neighbours, who hadn’t seen him for a week. He had died due to an aneurysm. There was a real sense of sadness about Rab’s death, as there was a great difficultly finding next of kin so nobody knew if and when there would be a funeral. Rab was well known in Sighthill, but it seems that not many people really knew him. It turns out that the last time we saw Rab must've been a couple days before he died. It's very sad, but I know on that day that both Emma and I were there and he saw and held Niamh (who he hadn't met before), telling us that she was "a wee cracker!"
Rab was a tall and tough looking guy, usually seen wearing a Misfits beanie and skull earring. But he had an unexpected childlike quality, always keen to help with physical work that needed done. It was hard to know about Rab personally, but I learned bits and pieces from our conversations at St Rollox. He was a keen Rangers supporter, but had never been to a match. He was big into the punk scene in the 70s and always liked to tell a story about how Joe Strummer made eye contact and bashed Rab’s fist at a Clash gig. He had been in a Townhead gang growing up and had been to many ‘rumbles’ in the Sighthill cemetery, but he was adamant that he had "turned his back on that sort of thing." Rab loved taking books and tracts from the church; he must’ve taken 10 different Bibles since I first met him. He was particularly interested in the end times and liked to be reassured that God was ultimately in control.
We began to grow concerned because weeks after Rab’s death, there was no news of a funeral. It was heartbreaking that Rab’s death might pass by without an organised act of remembrance. Eventually the details were sorted out and a memorial was scheduled at St Rollox. We were delighted to see that the church was full of local people there to pay their respects and remember Rab. Some people didn’t know how important local churches had been to him and were appreciative that St. Rollox had managed to the community together to mourn and remember. It caused many to think about their own ask the big questions about their lives.
That so many people showed up took the edge off the sadness and helped to bring closure. Rab was a real character and will be missed.
Thursday was also the day that we said goodbye to our Rwandan friend ‘George’ who got the job on the dairy farm (which I wrote about in a previous post). It all happened very quickly (or too quickly?). He was told on Wednesday that he could start work on Friday, so Thursday we hectically packed up and travelled around the city to sort out his paperwork with the Jobcentre, housing provider, and purchasing a train ticket.
The reality that George was leaving only really hit me as we waited for his train to Carlisle in central station. It seemed to hit him as well and he was clearly nervous about the big changes in store.
Since then, I’ve spoken to George a couple of times on the phone. The work is hard and the hours are long, but he’s pleased to be working again in a job that he knows. He says the other farmers are friendly and his roommate is also a newbie and city boy from Cardiff (it’s nice that he has another guy from out-of-town with him). In particular, he enjoyed learning to drive the tractor. At football on Friday, George’s absence was palpable. He helped to organise football and brought a lot of laughter to our games. Many of the guys were already talking about how much they missed him.
Pray that George will continue to rely on God through this transition. Also pray for his friends at Bishopbriggs Community Church who would’ve liked more time to say goodbye.
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