When we asked some of Ben’s friends what they thought we should do for his birthday this year they agreed that to get together and catch up was a great way to remember Ben - especially as lots of them didn’t see each other much anymore. So we had 40 or so of his friends and family all making a merry noise, eating and drinking and, of course, true to tradition, snake tying.
During the night a few people told us how they thought of Ben often, remembering his boldness, courage, bravery and enthusiasm for life. And it seemed from listening to them, that the impact of Ben’s cancer encounter had changed them—probably all of them—to a greater or lesser degree, forever.
It was Tim who reminded me that it was when a group of them were together hanging out at the beach, in June 2008 sometime I guess—not a care in the world beyond perhaps whether to swim or eat first, or eat then swim later—that Ben, in response to someone asking about how the ugly lump on his leg was going, dropped his bombshell. It’s cancer, he said. They were stunned. A group of active, go-getting invincible blokes were suddenly confronted with something totally outside their imaginings. And as good friends are want to do, they went part way at least on the journey their mate was taking.
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