Remembering You

Remembering You...

The Laughing Heart

your life is your life

don't let it be clubbed into dank submission.

be on the watch.

there are ways out.

there is light somewhere.

it may not be much light but

it beats the darkness.

be on the watch.

the gods will offer you chances.

know them.

take them.

you cant beat death but

you can beat death in life, sometimes.

An the more often you learn to do it,

the more light there will be.

your life is your life.

know it while you have it.

you are marvellous

the gods wait to delight

in you.

                                                                         - Charles Bukowski

Within two days two special young people connected to Vega died.

Megan Byrne, 18 years old, was a free spirit challenging her school system; principled, fun loving, full of energy and passion. Her father Tim, a friend of mine, has been a stalwart in the advertising industry and is now managing Brand Communications at Discovery. He was lining up interviews with us at Vega as they felt this environment could further unlock and better structure her restless and creative energy. This was not to be.

She had symptoms of flu on Saturday and died five hours later with a deadly form of meningitis. This was not meant to be.

Ntwanano,Tiny Maluleke was killed in the early hours of Monday morning in his rented house in Soweto. Shot through the chest in the dark by intruders who took two cell phones and a TV.

Tiny was a final year BA student. More than that he was a larger than life renaissance personality - an innovative thinker, fashion connoisseur, a rebirth of Sophiatown, a photographer, writer and music lover. His most recent Facebook status postings were:

I'm living on a cloud.

I'm a simple guy, its sophisticated.

and finally: 

I am inspired. Be inspired.

A tornado of creativity. The life taken. It was not meant to be.

Both memorial services broke out of the allotted seats and space. In both instances the application of social media brought together very large numbers of people within a few days - notwithstanding that students were on school holiday. The communities of family, friends, fellow students and staff, representing many of our cultures, were present.

In the case of Tiny, some 30 former Parktown Boys High School students, now 3 years out of matric, squeezed into their school blazers and sung an impassioned, grief-torn war cry.

Megan's school friends gave their emotional tributes and spoke of her mischievous and optimistic nature.

At Vega, Tiny's final year class, the Student Liaison Body and a former graduate arranged the entire service, designed the programme. Fellow students play the piano and sing. This was not meant to be. Children should not have to arrange memorial services for another child. This should not be.

Notwithstanding the untimely taking of life, both Megan and Tiny have left an indelible imprint on all they touched.

A professional golfer, Ken Venturi (1931 - 2013) said: The greatest gift in life is to be remembered. In the case of Tiny, Vega will name a creative studio after him and we are currently consulting as to other ways to remember the talent and life Tiny brought to the corridors of this School.

Whatever we do on an annual basis, it will be called something like - The Tiny Inspired Bursary or The Tiny Inspired Award. I’m sure Megan's School and friends will do something similar.

Both Megan and Tiny indeed had laughing hearts and it is ironic that, whoever chose this poem for Megan, probably her father Tim, was selecting a poet who would have been an outstanding, albeit difficult but brilliant Vega student. Ironic too, because Tiny's trademark was his laugh.