LAST GOODBYE TO
JERRIE HULME |
Dear friends,
One more death in our family, we heard.
Jerrie died. For more than three years
death has been something that happens
every day. But Jerrie's death has touched
and hurt us all deeply. When those we
love die it is always unexpected and
premature and he never looked like
someone who was going to do. He possessed
so much life which he unselfishly shared
with us. Therefore we are stunned and our
sorrow is as big as the war. We can feel
that someone is missing and his death is
a loss to us all. For as much as he was
yours we considered him part of our
family.
During the times when we thought we were
forgotten by the whole world, that nobody
thought about us and that God himself
left us to be on our own, Jerrie came to
help us, he came to our rescue. He came,
to tell us that all rivers must have two
banks, one of them being the human one.
Then it appeared to us that he brought
the Tower Bridge and put it up there,
over the Neretva, in the emptiness of
where for four hundred and twenty seven
years the Old Bridge was standing in all
its dignity. As he somehow drew a new map
of the world which made London closer to
us than any other town and even closer
than the other half of Mostar, where many
of us were born, where we used to live
and work. Where we could not Jerrie
taught us.
When we began to forget that the friendly
strong grip can be the biggest joy. He
taught us that the smile is the easiest
language for all people to understand.
That love is the biggest hope. So, it is
no wonder people here love to say that
Friday never meant to Robinson as much as
Jerrie meant to us all. There is no
person of any age, even a small child in
Mostar who did not know Jerrie. The
children would write his name on the
walls of the cellars, their only
shelters, and under the rainfall of
shells in their homeworks and diaries.
Old ladies would pray for him in evening
prayers…
Others would speak of him as a ray of
hope for survival. No one before him has
managed to become one of us so quickly
and lastingly. That is why we are now
both tremendously happy and unhappy at
the same time. Unhappy because he is no
longer with us and happy because we knew
him. Knowing him we have became richer.
On the news of his death we, the citizens
of Mostar, flew flags at half-mast, as we
would do for our dearest. We do not know
how big a monument you are going to erect
in honour of him, but the one that he
himself built around and in us by his
kindness and goodness is higher than all
others and it is going to last forever.
We would be happy if you came to Mostar
and experienced it. We wish you to know
that, for those whom Jerrie loved, all
gates of our town and our spirit are
widely opened. Also please convey our
condolences and our sentiments of grief,
gratitude and friendship to all friends
and relatives of yours. We wish you to
know that you are not alone in your grief
as we were not alone having your father
with us in the most difficult moments of
our lives.
Citizens of Mostar East
(prijevod:
Maja Simic) |
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