When we went down for the Comrades marathon last year June, I happened to observe a group of mourners on the Umhlanga promenade scattering a loved ones ashes into the ocean. The memory of your sudden passing was still fresh in my mind and as I dug my toes into the beach sand, it stung to know that you too were gone.

As the wind blew through their hair and one of the mourners started to play a bagpipe, the family and friends each said their few words of goodbye and then stood watching the ocean pull the scattered ashes further and further away from them.

I truly did feel as if I was an intruder in a very intimate gathering and taking a photo felt so unnecessary because the image would be cast in my memory forever anyhow.

It’s your birthday week so you’ve been in my thoughts and while running track the other night, I remembered that scene.

What struck me then and still does today is just how lucky those people on the promenade are that they are able to walk down to the ocean, look out and see their friend and ‘talk’ to their person.

Happy Birthday Conrad.