I’m still struggling to put into words the effect of the Christchurch earthquake on people like me who aren’t anywhere near there but who can’t stop crying and feeling heartbroken anyway. It reminds me of how I felt when Princess Diana died. Obviously, I didn’t know her (although I didwalk a few steps behind her for an afternoon in Wanganui in the early 1980s) but when she died suddenly I was inconsolable with grief and I couldn’t really work out why except that it was such a shock, and it wasn’t fair. And I think that’s it. In most aspects of our lives we have the ability to be prepared or in control but in this case, not at all and while the shock is a one-off, the injustice remains. My heart aches for the people of Christchurch, a city I do know in a walking-a-few-steps-behind-for-an-afternoon sort of way. I’m physically at the opposite end of the country, but I am emotionally right there with the families of the 147 who have died, the 50 who are missing, and the many others all who are grieving, or lonely, or frightened or confused and all I can say to them is please don’t give up hope because we can all help you rebuild your city, and your lives, and don’t think for a moment you’re on your own, because you’re not. You're really and truly not. XSK