I feel I should be in Confession as it's been 7 months since my last blog!! Been busy living my life to the full at one moment and feeling too tired and poorly to do anything but sleep the next!
I had the most amazing summer of 2012. It was such an exciting time for the UK and the rest of the world with the incredibly successful Olympics in London which I'd never believed, since my secondary diagnosis,that I'd still be around to witness! Although I didn't have any tickets for events I was in London 3 times within 12 days during the Olympics as I was lucky enough to be singing in 3 BBC Proms concerts in the Royal Albert Hall with the BBC Chorus and Orchestra of Wales. In July 2011 I was thrilled and surprised to be singing in my very first concert with the BBC Chorus in Verdi's Requiem at the Proms, so to be back again to be singing 3 Proms was just wonderful!
It was a tough physical feat for me (my own Olympics in my way!). We had very intensive rehearsals of all 3 big works from mid May onwards and there were times I thought I wouldn't get through it all.
I am fortunate that I have friends I stay with in London and so didn't have quite as much travelling back and forth between each Prom but I still had to be back in Wales for rehearsals of the next one so it was an incredibly busy fortnight during the performances. The atmosphere in London was electric and so warm and friendly! Was this really the same London I'd lived and worked in for 10 years a decade ago! On arriving at Paddington station the wonderful Gamesmakers were in full view and the station looked so welcoming. I was amazed that the tube was generally much less busy than usual as so many Londoners had got out of London. It was a truly celebratory atmosphere the whole of that fortnight. I had such a happy time. I'd go off from my friends' house in Chiswick to do each Prom and return to share and catch up on the Olympic news of the day with my friends. I had different friends at each Prom which was lovely. One of my closest friends brought her husband,2 young children and the grandparents and we all had a lovely time together in Kensington Gardens before the concert. I went to see the fantastic musical Matilda, met up with a lovely Swiss friend whom I hadn't seen since first meeting at a wonderful holistic holiday in Italy in 2010.
My special friend came down for my final Prom on the final weekend of the Olympics. It was his first time at the Albert Hall and he was blown away by it as I am every time I go in there. We got up early the next day to go to the vantage point of St Pauls to see part of the Olympic Marathon and we saw the leaders all go by 3 times and it was fantastic to be part of such a happy atmosphere amongst people from all over the world.
That evening back at my friends' house we all watched the brilliant Olympic Closing ceremony and I reflected on what had been a wonderful fortnight - I'm running out of superlatives - and that back at my darkest times in 2008 I would never have dreamt of being part of such experiences.
I was shattered and it wasn't easy to get through the amount of standing required during the concerts but I felt such a sense of achievement and fulfillment at the end of it and to have been in London during such an important time for the whole world and to feel part of it. I have always felt that the most difficult thing about living with a terminal illness is the sense of isolation from the rest of the world and to feel you don't have much to give to the world but during that fortnight I felt very much part of the world and it felt good!!
I had the most amazing summer of 2012. It was such an exciting time for the UK and the rest of the world with the incredibly successful Olympics in London which I'd never believed, since my secondary diagnosis,that I'd still be around to witness! Although I didn't have any tickets for events I was in London 3 times within 12 days during the Olympics as I was lucky enough to be singing in 3 BBC Proms concerts in the Royal Albert Hall with the BBC Chorus and Orchestra of Wales. In July 2011 I was thrilled and surprised to be singing in my very first concert with the BBC Chorus in Verdi's Requiem at the Proms, so to be back again to be singing 3 Proms was just wonderful!
It was a tough physical feat for me (my own Olympics in my way!). We had very intensive rehearsals of all 3 big works from mid May onwards and there were times I thought I wouldn't get through it all.
I am fortunate that I have friends I stay with in London and so didn't have quite as much travelling back and forth between each Prom but I still had to be back in Wales for rehearsals of the next one so it was an incredibly busy fortnight during the performances. The atmosphere in London was electric and so warm and friendly! Was this really the same London I'd lived and worked in for 10 years a decade ago! On arriving at Paddington station the wonderful Gamesmakers were in full view and the station looked so welcoming. I was amazed that the tube was generally much less busy than usual as so many Londoners had got out of London. It was a truly celebratory atmosphere the whole of that fortnight. I had such a happy time. I'd go off from my friends' house in Chiswick to do each Prom and return to share and catch up on the Olympic news of the day with my friends. I had different friends at each Prom which was lovely. One of my closest friends brought her husband,2 young children and the grandparents and we all had a lovely time together in Kensington Gardens before the concert. I went to see the fantastic musical Matilda, met up with a lovely Swiss friend whom I hadn't seen since first meeting at a wonderful holistic holiday in Italy in 2010.
My special friend came down for my final Prom on the final weekend of the Olympics. It was his first time at the Albert Hall and he was blown away by it as I am every time I go in there. We got up early the next day to go to the vantage point of St Pauls to see part of the Olympic Marathon and we saw the leaders all go by 3 times and it was fantastic to be part of such a happy atmosphere amongst people from all over the world.
That evening back at my friends' house we all watched the brilliant Olympic Closing ceremony and I reflected on what had been a wonderful fortnight - I'm running out of superlatives - and that back at my darkest times in 2008 I would never have dreamt of being part of such experiences.
I was shattered and it wasn't easy to get through the amount of standing required during the concerts but I felt such a sense of achievement and fulfillment at the end of it and to have been in London during such an important time for the whole world and to feel part of it. I have always felt that the most difficult thing about living with a terminal illness is the sense of isolation from the rest of the world and to feel you don't have much to give to the world but during that fortnight I felt very much part of the world and it felt good!!
