Gail

I pondered whether this was the right place to do this or not, but since I'll put down on these pages whatever trivial pish goes on in my life, I thought I should actually write a little bit about something real that's happened.

Just over a week ago my friend Gail died. I only knew Gail for a little bit more than a year. She was one of the most positive and forward thinking people I've ever met. Even when she was ill she was always talking about what project she was going to get moving next. She never lost interest in anything anyone else was doing either. She always seemed to genuinely care about what you were doing and what direction you were headed in and what she could do to help.

Of the things that first come to mind when I think about her, was the time I saw her get on the bus after she had been in a show at The Arches. She seemed really chuffed that I had made an effort to shout on her, citing it as "the first time anyone has ever shouted on me on a bus." She was a bit pissed right enough. I also remember laughing at her when she asked if I would babysit her wee boy. I did, and after I got over what a ludicrous notion anyone asking me to look after their kid was, I was touched that she was happy to leave him in my care. And I ended up making more money out of that babysitting gig than I ever have doing stand-up.

Gail was someone who realised what she wanted from her life and had such drive and desire to achieve it. I find it so sad that she didn't get to fully realise everything that she was capable of. However the important thing is that she did do what she wanted to and acheived a lot that most people wouldn't have thought possible.

It perhaps seems disingenuous to suggest that I'm better off for having known her and while I maybe wasn't going round saying that in January, it's probably true. And I know that I'll miss her.