Christchurch Earthquake - National Memorial Service

We didn’t go to the memorial service today.  Maybe we should have but we didn’t.

We don’t feel any better for not going….and we don’t know if we’d have felt any better if we’d gone.  Motel work did have an effect but not as much as the emotional effect.

Friday's paper - names of souls no longer with us & area many of them died shrouded in morning fog.

To be honest, we are emotionally quaked out.  In the space of just over 2 weeks we’ve had to deal with massive disasters in both NZ and Japan and it’s been hard.  

Just as we were getting over the Christchurch quake, the day we got out of cordon and curfew, and looking for some light relief we were hit by the Japan quake and subsequent tsunami destroying so much of what we knew, live on TV.  It’s been one of the darkest few weeks of our lives, and it still isn’t over.  

Two disasters hitting so much we know and love has been hard and I think wanting to get away from it all was the main reason we didn’t go to the memorial service today.

We stayed at home, watched on TV and cried.  It was beautiful to see so many referring to the disaster in Japan – we do know how they feel and what they are going through.

We did have our reasons for not going but they were negated by the raw power of the Memorial Service.  It was an amazing thing.  We thought it was too soon because some people’s names have not been yet announced but everyone gracefully spoke around that fact and included those poor souls.  We though it was too soon because the city is still a mess, but it was only a few hours.  We though it was too soon because we still don’t know the extent of the tragedy but it is a tragedy.  We thought it was too soon but it was an amazing tribute to an amazing, but munted city.

Christchurch Earthquake Memorial Service (photo by Bebe Frayle - thanks!) 

The words of the day, of course, belong to Prince William - 'my grandmother once said grief is the price we pay for love' and he added that “today we love and grieve.”

We love our families, friends and city, and today we grieved for our families, friends and city.  We also love our friends and places we know in Japan and today, one week from their disaster, we grieve for these friends and places. 

There is still so much to grieve for in both countries but somehow our love will keep us going.