Our Sealed Bid Auction Winner!

Last week we were delighted to welcome Michelle Rice to Thame when she came to collect our 'On A Cold & Frosty Morning....' vignette, after placing the winning bid in the Sealed Bid Auction.  Michelle  donated the mighty sum of £300 which is being donated to Breast Cancer Campaign. It was a lovely morning for us and a most generous bid, and we wondered if she, like others who contributed so willingly to the fundraising efforts, had a special reason for doing so.

As you can read in her own words, kindly sent to us for publication and to raise the profile of this worthy charity - she has indeed. We were very moved by her words (which we have edited a little for reasons of space and confidentiality) and by her beautiful poem.

Thank you Michelle.

My name is Michelle. I fell hopelessly in love with this tiny frozen back-yard from the moment I first laid eyes on it; when I realised that the money raised by the sale would go to Breast Cancer I decided that I really did have to bid! I can't tell you how much it meant to have the winning bid! Not only had I won something so precious but I had contributed to a cause that means a great deal to me.

You could walk down any street .......and ask people you met along the way and I would guess that all of them would be able to tell about someone special...that they knew, who had been touched by cancer. I have watched friends lose mums and sisters, I have had friends who have won the battle and friends who have lost. I myself have had a scare....the fears that I had ... will never leave me.

Someone close to me, with a beautiful young family has fought off cancer three times and is now having to fight again. It breaks my heart each and every time I look at them and see just how brave they try to be......how heavy the load is to carry.......I'm not deeply religious but every night I pray..... the overwhelming noise that must come to Him every night from people like me all over the world must be deafening.

It is for this reason that this campaign and any like it are so close to my heart. With breast cancer it is so easy to empathize as a woman; women are incredible creatures....mothers, wives, daughters, sisters, partners and friends - we are the supporters, the carers....and so, so much more....when the unthinkable happens, the thing that we all think only ever happens to someone else....

I would like to thank both Celia and Robin, this is something I will treasure forever. They have both done such a lovely thing for such a fantastic cause! I'm not a great writer but I do enjoy it. This poem was inspired by Brian the Blue Tit and the much loved olive (the little tree) whose sacrifice was not in vain!

  

This was the moment she stopped....and paused....

This was the route she walked
Every day
Twice a day
Auto pilot
Alone
Pounding the floor
Each step
Like each beat
Determined, definite, strong

Each day she fought the battles
That would one day win the war
Her war
Her war and her journey
This journey
Every day
Twice a day
Auto pilot
Alone

This was the time when the battle was at its fiercest
The tremendous, engulfing, deafening noise
The voices above the din
Voices of those who relied on her to win
Hers was a heavy step
Her bag was light
But her burden WAS so very heavy
All the noise and commotion had all but drowned out the rest of the world
On her journey
This journey
Every day
Twice a day
Auto pilot
Alone

But

Today was different

This was the moment she stopped....and paused....

Like the tree
She stood motionless
Silent, solid, cold
Fading away into the distance the sound of the struggle and strain
Suddenly
The world sang gently in her ear
The cold hard breeze danced delicately about her face and through her hair.
As she watched him
Tint, vulnerable, fragile
Like an alien in this hostile, frozen, brittle scene
But
A fighter, robust, a survivor
All at once she was looking in a mirror
A mirror that Mother Nature herself held up in front her
A single
Deep
Breath
In
Out
Her moment of epiphany exhaled and displayed in the air around her
There to remind her
She WAS alive
Like him
Tiny, vulnerable, fragile
Like an alien in this hostile frozen, brittle scene
But
A fighter, robust, a survivor

 

And all at once
This small insignificant patch of the world
This small insignificant patch of her world
Dull, mundane, forgettable
That she passed
Every day
Twice a day
Auto pilot
Alone
Became
Spectacular, inspiring, beautiful
A work of art
Every crumpled leaf
Every cracked paving slab
Every thing
And like the frost that claimed every crevice and cranny
She now owned it entirely

This WAS the moment
This is where she would make her stand!
She resumed her post
Head held high
And let out an all mighty battle cry
It rumbled and echoed through her
As she stood in silence
Boadicea would have been proud
She marched onwards
Pounding the floor
Each step
Like each beat
Determined, definite, strong

Yes
Today she was victorious
Today she was very much
Alive!

©Copyright Michelle Rice

THANK YOU TO MICHELLE & TO EVERYONE WHO PLACED A BID

 



Robin & Celia