Promise

I've been here in Hong Kong these last few days to attend a course related to my work. It's been a pleasure to have been in the company of a number of bright, articulate people, most of whom are a fair bit younger than me (and a fair bit brighter, to boot.). One young lady in particular struck me as early as the first day as someone likely to go places and do lots of good work.

And then today I suddenly remembered another such young lady, from more than thirty years ago now, on another course - one that proved very useful to me in a number of ways - who had struck me then as equally capable, and rightly so. But she died many years ago, and as far as I understand it, that wonderful youthful promise had somehow gone well before she left us.

I can see her now, in my mind's eye, more vividly than I can recall the rather striking girl who so impressed me over the last three days. And I am baffled at what went wrong for her. Sometimes we lose it, whatever small grace we have been granted - a grant not to take for granted. So I ended up this evening saying a sad prayer for the girl who died, and one for the girl who has so much to live for, and one for eveyone in that room that fate might treat them kindly.

None of this is anything of ours.