Hi everyone,
What is the world coming to when your own mum starts to muscle in on my publicity! But muscled in she has, and in magnificent style. Below you will find the link to the local newspaper article written following a coffee morning and fundraiser organised by mum. I’m sure you’ll agree that this is a brilliant effort, and no I’m not just saying that because otherwise I get a clip round the ear.
The best thing is, unfortunately the impression is lost on the web version, the article warranted a full-colour headline and photograph taking up the entire front page.
On a personal note, I’d like to say a huge thank you to my mum for going through what must have been an incredibly difficult and emotional interview, I love you millions.
Please go and have a look: www.morleyobserver.co.uk
Much love,
Neil
Although I mentioned raising more than a ‘tray bake’ amount in a previous post, these coffee mornings are not to be sniffed at. Every weekend up and down the country there are coffee mornings serving the dual purpose of offering a social event, quite often for the older members of community, and bringing in a slow but steady and much needed trickle of funding for charities. I have volunteered in community fundraising and met some very dedicated people.
Unlike myself, this was not the first time that Lynne [Neil's mother] had had to deal with motor neurone disease. First of all it had taken her father-in-law, then it took her husband with the same uncontrollable speed with which it was now taking her son. Sadly, there was more to come for Lynne as her sister Margaret, with whom she was very close, was given the same diagnosis after Neil died.
Neil would have been devastated to know that yet again, his mother was having to look into the eyes of someone she loved with this awful disease.
Neil’s attitude toward motor neurone disease was to fight against it, and had he not started his campaign for awareness, I can’t hand-on-heart say that I would want to look back so much to those terrible days when it was stripping his life away muscle by muscle. I may well have chosen to go to ignore its continuing existence in order to move on and have a happy life.
It did take a great deal of courage for Lynne to do this interview and I know Neil was very proud of her.