Chapter 44
Amy: Hold On Tight
James and I don’t really have arguments.
You might think that’s because we’re in a kind of honeymoon period again, after what we’ve been through.
But the truth is, we were never ones for heated arguments or shouting at each other.
Something James said to me years ago was that being in the army had taught him many things, but the most important lesson he had learnt was to keep in mind who your real enemy is.
And he said he always tries to remember that your real enemy is never someone you truly love and who truly loves you.
So that’s how we avoid angry arguments. But we’re only human and of course we disagree on some things.
And when we do, James often laughs at me for wanting to have the last word, however nicely I might put it.
So, true to form, this is me having the last word.
The thing I wanted to say is this. When I first went to the crematorium, I saw it as a place of grief, of despair, of deep, deep sorrow.
And when I first heard that Joe and Olive had become a couple through meeting there, I remember that Calvin Harris song popped into my head, ‘We Found Love In a Hopeless Place’.
But what I came to realise is that the crem is not a hopeless place.
Quite the opposite. It’s a place full of hope, and happiness and love.
Hope that our loved ones can hear us when we talk to them, and hope that some day we will meet again.
Happiness when we think of the time we shared with them, and the beautiful memories we cherish.
And love, that most powerful, pervasive and persistent of emotions.
Because real love never dies. So, whatever life throws at you, and sometimes it can be pretty bad, hold on tight to hope, hold on tight to happiness, and hold on tight to love.