An eclectic collection of trivia, observation, cynicism, wit....
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I'm Mark. Older than you imagine, pescetarian, husband, father, professional parent & pedant.

I post some original stuff and a bunch of other things that I like. If you own the rights to something you see here and you're not happy about me sharing it, let me know.

January ends in tragedy

Whilst at work today, I heard that the bodies of two young men were found in a pond in Canterbury. Some of the guys were speculating on how they may have met their demise. I didn’t pay much attention at the time. However, it was also a topic of conversation when I arrived home. After all, Canterbury is only a few miles away, and my Princess attends University there.

I guess it was idle curiosity that led her to a Google search for more information. One article named the youngest victim and suggested a name for the eldest, although details had not been released formally. It was with palpable shock that we realised we knew him.

Dan Lloyd went to the same school as our son. He was a gifted musician and played at my son’s sixteenth birthday party nearly ten years ago. Since then we’ve seen him busking from time to time; we even bumped into him in Canterbury on my wife’s birthday last year, and my Princess saw him on almost every occasion she went into town.

He always seemed happy and following what, to us at least, appeared to be a bohemian lifestyle not dissimilar to that of our son. In an even more shocking turn, we learned that our son knew both victims and worked with the younger lad only recently. He says his tool belt is still hanging up in the crew room. Now, sadly, everyone knows why. He too was a busker, and unusually a beatboxer whom we’ve also seen and heard as he earned his keep. Canterbury’s streets will be quieter and darker without these young men to lift our spirits.  

My Princess has been in tears for much of the evening, which has been a fairly sombre affair. It seems odd that one can sit dispassionately watching a graphic TV drama about particularly grisly murders and feel nothing. No matter how good the acting, it is only that; merely players portraying events that happen to someone else less fortunate than ourselves.

It’s wholly different when reality bludgeons its way into your living room. In appalling enlightenment, we now find ourselves wondering what these young people thought as the grim reality that their lives were about to end became crystalline.

For us, it’s uncomfortably close; both our children’s lives crossed with those of the victims. For the victim’s families, the grief must be unbearable. Our thoughts are with them.

Dan Lloyd and Hugo Wenn, you brought music and happiness into the lives of the many folks who knew you and heard you play. We will miss you. Rest in peace.

  1. theylaughed said: Thank you. I’ve yet to watch a TV program that truly brings it home and really makes you feel it, but this post has, and I wont lie; I felt my eyes getting hot. I hope Emma is okay and that their families find a way to cope with the grief.
  2. apoplecticskeptic said: :( sorry to hear.
  3. mings posted this