Simon

Spring has sprung - bulbs are flowering, darling baby lambs are testing their legs, birds are returning/nesting, grey skies are lessening and the sun feels warm and promising.

Time moves on, but the Isles are in mourning.

Friday was the funeral of 21 year old South Uist son Simon MacMillan. Simon had recently joined the navy and made an unexpected visit home for Christmas when his ship dry-docked. What a wonderful surprise for his parents! That joy however, was short lived. On December 26th (Boxing Day) Simon was heading back home from a dance at St Peter’s hall in Daliburgh with a bunch of friends packed inside a minibus, when he got out to walk the couple of miles to his home. It was the last time anyone saw young Simon. The search was massive - 200 island volunteers participated as well as numerous divers, dogs, boats and helicopters - his father, his friends, his family searched and searched with no avail. Weather conditions were extremely harsh, thus hindering their efforts. How awful to sit indoors knowing he was out there somewhere! No doubt there were many arguments between his friends and their parents not to go off half caulked. Another tragedy would be even more unbearable.

Two weeks ago his body was found in a freshwater loch by five women, including his aunts. I was somewhat hoping it would be by loved ones and not the Coast Guard, but to find your nephew's body and take him in your arms is beyond comprehension. I do not know how one recovers. Simon's family had been living in the depths of the unknown. Closure helps but sorrow never goes away. Their boy/brother/nephew/friend comes home on leave and dies in a senseless accident. Life will continue - summer will follow spring and so on and so on, but it will never be the same.

To not make mention of Simon would seem wrong, for his death reached all the way across the ocean and into my heart. It is not out of the realm of possibilities my ancestral family knew, or knew of, his ancestral family. Paying respects is just what we do, regardless if his family ever knows.

Rest in peace Simon.