Oxford/Cory

I woke up to the devastating news of Cory Monteith's death. It seems that the world has lost not only an incredibly talented actor and one so dear to many people, both as himself and in his role as Finn Hudson - but a great friend, kind heart, and inspiration. And a man who was far too young to die. Just reading people's tweets about him made me cry, and I've been thinking about Lea Michele all day long. It's weird that so many people who didn't know him care about it, and those surviving him are going through something very personal right now. Hopefully the public's grief won't make theirs any harder to cope with.

The rents and I drove up to Oxford to see two great uncles and a great aunt. I don't see my extended family enough, and sadly in the past year, I've seen them in sad times rather than happy. Luckily today it was just an opportune time for a little reunion, and I really enjoyed the time spent with them. This particular branch of the family have so many great stories about their childhood (actually, even the ones related by marriage grew up together) and about families and friends that they're connected to. Not to mention the academic discussions and jokes and anecdotes about colleagues.

Of course, it always happens that we talk about lost loved ones, and death being on my mind made that ever so slightly more poignant than usual. But it's good to have family to share memories with, and the family I saw today is always a comfort to have around, both in good times and in bad.

A walk through Port Meadow, lunch in a pub (my dad pointed out how pretty England is in the summer) and the hot drive back, to find the brother and his friends at home planning their summer holiday around a big pot of pasta!

Spent the rest of the evening updating my blip (finally, this post is actually being written on the day that it's about! Miracle!), and picking a dress for graduation (I bought the shoes yesterday, spent a bit too much time in a shopping centre for weather this nice). Writing about the end of term over the past few days has brought up that bizarre sense of loss again, but things change. Just a few moments ago I found myself feeling slightly happier, and less resentful and jealous, about something (actually someone) unexpected. So there you go. In the words of Groucho Marx, time wounds all heels.

Having said that, I'll dedicate this blip to Cory Monteith, and acknowledge that the hole he's left in the world may remain a scar.