So I haven't had much to say for a while. Well that's a lie... I always have a lot to say...But I haven't had anything to SAY. I've had an amazing few months with shooting and family and settling into Denmark, but we lost someone special and all the things you want to say never seem to be enough. But maybe we need to say them anyway.
So let me tell you about Christine.
She was born prematurely and she left us just as prematurely. And she was all the things we should be: funny and beautiful and unfiltered.
She gave you a headache, now and then, because she told the truth and sometimes people don't want to hear the truth. But how much simpler would life be if we all just told it how it was, plain and unvarnished? 'The Invention of Lying' was a movie practically based on my family; we seem to drown in the comedy of things people probably shouldn't say. Sometimes the truth makes you wince, and sometimes the shocking honesty just makes you laugh and Christine made me laugh and gave me someone who truly understood how hard it is to tip toe around a world that would prefer you just lied.
She was a talented athlete, a promising doctor to be, an active and passionate humanitarian. The woman could sew and cook as well. My Facebook feed was full of her daily updates on new and wonderful projections, sad and worthy causes, practical and educational facts and the awesome food ambitions that screamed our multicultural roots.
I had never realised how much we talked. She died less than two days after our last talk. It was mostly just Facebook chat. For one reason or another we were always somewhere else. When I was home she was not. When she moved to Melbourne, I moved to Hobart. That catch up coffee that just never happened. We sighed about the stupidity of anti vaccination campaigners and cured the worlds ills, if folk would just do the smart thing....and laughed at terrible things our family say and at the terrible things we say and rolled our eyes at always having to shut up before you say something honest...or always apologising because there is no filter between brain and mouth. And just generally planned evil genius plans to take over the world... and or save it, depending on the day.
So I hope you always appreciate that special person in your life who always just tells you the plain unvarnished truth and go and get that catch up caffeination today and bask in the blast of fresh air of plain and uncomplicated. Everybody needs a Christine. We lost ours too early.
