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17-09-2005 Scotsman Remember Rory for his life, not death By Gethin Chamberlain Chief News Correspondent FROM inside the room in which the family and friends of Rory Blackhall had gathered, the words of the minister, John Povey, drifted over the loudspeakers set up to relay the ceremony to those standing outside. "Some people are bound to die young," he read, quoting Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. "By dying young a person stays young forever in people's memory. If he burns brightly in life, his light shines for all time." There were about a hundred people outside the Howden Park Centre in the middle of the little park near the centre of Livingston where the funeral ceremony was taking place; perhaps another 200 inside the plain room with its grey brick and white painted walls, pine floor and harsh fluorescent lights. A lectern stood at the front, to the right of the white clad trestles set up to hold the Saltire-draped coffin. The 11-year-old was killed after his mother dropped him off for school four weeks and one day earlier. The massive hunt, first for Rory himself, then, when his body was found, for his killer, united the community in grief, anger and despair. Yesterday they gathered to remember a life cut short, but lived to the full. Those seated inside the centre on the purple and the orange chairs arrived, their heads bowed, in a steady stream. Most wore a little tartan, at the family's request. Behind the crowd barriers set up on the other side of the road, ordinary people looked on. Mothers with children in pushchairs, senior citizens, teenagers. All affected in some way by Rory's death. Through the trees, the flashing blue lights of the two police outriders leading the cortege came into view. In front of the centre the lone piper, PC David Brown, a family friend, started to play Flower of Scotland. Rory would have liked that: his parents said he loved all things Scottish. Later, in his eulogy, his father Russell called him his little William Wallace, gabbling the words out, so desperate not to cry. The hearse pulled up first. The wreath of thistles on top of the coffin was removed, and carried inside. Then the coffin itself. It looked a little smaller than full-size, but then Rory, tall for his 11 years, was still only 5ft 2ins. Even so, it took four men to carry it. As it was borne into the room, some of those inside the hall hung on to others for support. Mr Povey said a few words. It was not a religious ceremony, but he was there as a friend, swapping his normal garb for a suit and tartan tie. Goodness is ultimately always stronger than evil, he reminded them. They were not there to mourn, but to celebrate the life of a young boy who lived on in their memories. Then came Smoke on the Water, the Deep Purple song that Rory had spent many hours learning to play on his guitar. Outside, some of the crowd grabbed on to each other. Inside, Rory's mother Michelle moved to the lectern, a few feet away from where the coffin now stood, bedecked with the bouquet of thistles. She was not sure she would manage to get through this, she said, but she would try. Her voice came over firm, strong. Rory would leave a huge chasm in her life and that of the family, she said. They would only be able to move on from what had happened by focusing on the joy he gave them and on the wonderful young man that he was. "Please, please remember Rory for the person he was and the things you have heard from us today, rather than on how he died," she said, managing to keep her voice under control. "I know that he made me a better person for knowing him and I'm very proud and very honoured to have been his mummy." Rory's father Russell spoke at length, but fast, trying hard not to break down. He spoke of a life lived to the full, of a young boy who filled his life, and that of others, with joy. Life could never be the same now that Rory had gone, he said. "Rory, my son, had passion, strength and gave so much to other people. There is no question in my mind that Rory would have been a good, strong and compassionate man, partner and father. To me, he is my William Wallace. I hope I can be half the man he would have been." Afterwards, the family took the boy's body to Warriston in Edinburgh for cremation, away from the gaze of the media which fell on them the moment that Rory was reported missing on 18 August, and remained on them as hope faded, his body was found and the police investigation finally led detectives to his killer's door. The man who killed Rory is dead, too, but about him enough has already been written. Yesterday was about the life of a remarkable young boy. It was left to Mr Povey to deliver the final reading, a passage from AA Milne's House On Pooh Corner, the passage in which Christopher Robin, knowing he is going away, urges his friend: "Pooh, promise you won't forget about me, ever." It was one of Rory's favourite stories, and at the end of the book is an illustration of a small boy playing with a teddy bear. It reminded them of Rory. "So they went off together," Mr Povey read. "But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on top of the forest, a little boy and his bear will always be playing."
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................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
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