It was a thinking kind of day for me. Not because there is anything new to think about. I have been thoughtful about Cave Creek for the last 20 years. But it was different today because I was intentional about the thinking, and I paused to think, relive, and re-digest 28th April 1995 and all the subsequent turns my life has taken since then. It is old news to most of New Zealand, but the events of this day have become very much part of the fabric of my being. And today, those closest to the tragedy have remembered afresh. I couldn’t be part of the memorial that happened in Greymouth, but I really wanted to mark it somehow for myself. But how? I didn’t really know. I decided to walk to a beautiful out-of-the-way spot on the river. The kids got right to what they do, playing and scrambling.
And then I had the idea to build cairns, one for each life lost that day – 14 in total. The kids helped to begin with.
And I wanted to finish them.No new thoughts, just memories, and a thankfulness for God’s faithfulness to me.One of the irony’s for me is so much life potential was unfilled the day that platform collapsed. No opportunities for those friends to marry, have children and follow their dreams. I always thought maybe God saved me for something, though 20 years later I still wonder what that could be. I have lived more life since the accident than I did previously. And the irony is that though life was taken, he has personally given me so much life, in the form of my own kids. That is quite mind boggling for me. Through the sadness of loss, life keeps moving. I think of the song that says “He gives and takes away, my heart will choose to say, Blessed be the name of the Lord” (It’s a Third Day song I think). That is the only sense that I know in an event that feels utterly senseless.I took the framed photo of Cave Creek and all those that lost their lives. We prayed for families, did some more hangin out and then I noticed small fry here chatting away and looking at the photo!