Mike Riddell - sorely missed

Dear Mike

You always were the leader, always ready to get up and go on a mission,
waking us with a cup of tea, sandwiches and kit ready for the off.

Now you’ve gone off on your own. Gone on ahead.
Leaving us with an indelible memory of a lovely, lovable bloke,
Always ready for a laff.

We always knew if we were going to be with you we were going to have a good time.

I asked you once how come you were always in such good spirits.
You thought for a second, and then said,

“Well there’s two things really.
Nin says half the time I don’t know what’s going on.
The other thing is that if things are looking bad, I always think, 
Well it’s bad at the moment, but there are better times coming. 
And better times always do come around”.

So although at the moment there is an aching void where Mike used to be, an emptiness that grabs us physically in the gut and expresses itself in tears as salty as the sea that Mike loves so much…

Although we are  in bad times right now, we will remember Mike’s words, and look for the good times that are waiting for us.

So Nina, Richard, Alex, Chris, Ben and all Mike’s family, and his great extended family of friends,

Mike wants us to be ready, when our time of mourning is properly over,
ready for the good times,
ready to be happy again,
ready to enjoy and live life to the full, as he did,

In the knowledge that our time here is short and therefore precious.

Because we are all going to have to pass through that doorway that Mike has just stepped through so boldly and decisively.

Our time is precious. Precious means lots of things, but mainly it means
living each moment for what it is, a concentrated jewel of universal reality.
And it means also relating to each person around us as if they are the most beautiful and important person in the world.

Which of course is what they are.

And to do that without being precious about it,  of course, because Mike couldn’t stand that sort of thing.

So Mike, thank you for leading us into, and out of, all sorts of temptations, and let your memory deliver us from being boring and dull.

Thanks for the memories, thanks for being our friend, and until we meet again,

May all that is good and happy and shining light be with you always.