Emotional day..................................

I was going to post yesterday, I promise....but then A came and sat on my lap and promptly fell asleep....and bang went any chance of posting... To be fair though, yesterday was another 'nothing' day.... Uni work, housework, hot weather....yup, that about sums it up...... :)

Today, however, has been a different kind of day..... Today, 7 years ago a li'l BIG man was born - Jack Marshall.....his parents didn't know it but he was going to be an inspirational little boy, who would change people's lives and touch the hearts of so many, young and old, famous and 'normal'....of course we'd all rather that we'd not heard of him because that would mean that Jack never had cancer, and Jack was still with his loving family.....but things don't always go how we want them to, and Jack developed a brain tumour when he was just 4 years old. He fought it and fought it, with a smile, a giggle, a round of Glory Glory Man United, some milky bars, maybe a milkshake or several and, most importantly, with the love and care of his family, and the ever expanding circle that is now known as Jack's Army.... If you could see the pictures of Jack and his mum Tracey you'd see a love that is so tangible it positively leaps off the screen at you.. I don't share those pictures because they're not mine to share, but I can tell you that I've never seen anything like it... I firmly believe that Jack's courage during his illness was because of his amazing family, and the love they surrounded him with... If only love was enough to keep people alive, if only cancer wasn't the evil illness that it is, if only, if only.... because Jack passed away last October and he's missed each and every day by so many people all around the world.... He should have been here to celebrate his birthday. Instead we let balloons fly up to the skies for him, and lit candles in his memory.... 

So I make no apologies for the fact that I will post on FB, or talk about Jack.... He really does inspire me....and yes, you can love, care for and be inspired by someone you never met..... Through the video's, pictures and posts/tweets by his mum, Jack's Army got to know Jack. We heard his giggle, and saw his amazement when his favourite player at Manchester United, Wayne Rooney, sent a tweet to him....We saw him dancing to Selfish Jean by Travis, and was saw him playing football - Jack learnt to walk, the second time, using a football sent to him by Sir Alex Ferguson...that's Jack, he pulled you in whoever you were...we call it being Jacked..it's cool.... For Jack I found myself wanting Manchester United to win, not something I ever thought I'd do.... I saw how brave Jack was, and I know that when I've struggled I can look at his picture and I can't help but smile, and I remind myself that I can do things...no matter how hard it seems... 

Thanks to Jack, I've met some amazing people, people who will be friends for life, people who've been a wonderful support to me...but, more importantly thanks to Jack I've got off my backside, started exercising and eating sensibly...I've walked 5k, something I didn't think I could do..but I did.... So yes, I'm going to talk about him, because he deserves to be remembered, to be known about, to be talked about and to be loved, appreciated and recognised for the brave, caring, funny, cheeky, adorable, smily li'l BIG man he was... (hate that word in that context by the way)...  so, one more time for today ... Jack Marshall, Happy 7th Birthday sweetheart, love you to your star and back, miss you... always in my heart.... 

Night all