To honor the three people who perished in a horrific crash in Wales, a vigil is being held.
When Rafel Jeanne, Eve Smith, and Darcy Ross‘ VW Tiguan left the A48 in Cardiff and struck several trees in the Saint Mellons neighborhood, they were all murdered.
Although they lived, their two pals Sophie Russon and Shane Loughlin are still in critical condition.
Some hundred people have gathered at the A48 junction, which has been restricted to traffic, but more are anticipated to join.
Two minute silence and fireworks for crash victims at St Mellons vigil
People leaving bouquets of flowers on the roundabout of the A48
Flowers and candles have been laid out near the scene in a tribute to the victims, who were from Newport.
People also let out heart-shaped balloon bouquets in the air in their memory.
The community is demanding answers why it took the police so long to find the group, who had been missing for more than 48 hours.
They had been to a social club in Maesglas, Newport, on Friday and were thought to then have travelled 40 miles to the Trecco Bay area of Porthcawl.
More mourners are expected to turn up over the course of the evening
It is believed they then went to the Llanedeyrn area of Cardiff and were last seen at about 2am on Saturday.
All five were later reported missing by their families after they did not hear from them.
Friends and family desperately searched for them over the weekend and just after midnight on Monday, the car they had been travelling in was found crashed off the A48.
Tamzin Samuels, a friend of the three young women, said: ‘I do think the police could have done a lot more in putting the helicopters out earlier.
‘They only posted the appeal an hour before the girls were found. We found them before the police found them – we rang the police.
‘The search party found the girls before the police found the girls.
‘I think that speaks volumes really, they had all that equipment, and we had cars when we were looking.
‘They were really popular girls, the life of the party, and it was really out of character for them to do what they did, which is why we knew something was wrong.’
Funerals permitting, I start my Saturday mornings resting peacefully with my radio. Joy FM’s “Home Affairs” which starts soon after the 6 a.m. news dovetails into the Weekend City Show around 7.30a.m. and then crosses-over into Newsfile at 9 a.m.
While the first discusses family issues and relationships, the third discusses serious current affairs on national issues.
However, the “Weekend City Show” (WCS) is a comedy show designed to make listeners laugh and in the process hopefully, bring down unruly high blood pressures to the 120/80 doctors demand of us.
On Saturday, September 17, 2022, one of the quotes which came up during the humorous “Weekend City Show” programme was: “Give me my flowers while I can still smell them!”
Before delving into what the quote means, what is “Weekend City Show” about?
Show
As stated, this is a Saturday morning comedy show. Hosted by Sammy Forson, it involves two actors, Joseph Langabel of Black Stars Cheering Squad fame and Reuben Adarkwa of Dome-Kwabenya fame.
Joining the cast himself, Sammy Forson humorously leads this trio as an “agent-provocateur” to entertain listeners.
They call themselves “weekend doctors” who heal listeners of their ailments by making them laugh during their comedy show.
After Langabel and Reuben had taken listeners to the moon and back by trying to explain the quote “Give me my flowers when I can still smell them,” Sammy Forson explained what the quote meant.
In the words of the American rapper Kanye West, it means “if you admire somebody, you should go ahead and tell them.”
Simply put, if you admire someone for any positive reason, make the person aware of it by praising him or her while alive.
Do not wait till after their death before showering them with praises.
Flowers
Said to have started in ancient Graeco-Roman times over 2000 years ago, the physical act of giving flowers is a form of expression to show others one’s appreciation, love and gratitude for their good deeds.
The use of the quote took me down memory lane.
Bob Cole
At a Saturday night “dance” in an Accra nightclub in the 1970’s, Ghana’s ace comedian/musician Bob Cole, who was going through difficult times financially, made a passionate appeal to the revelers that those who appreciated him should show their love to him while he was still alive.
He added that flowery praises, huge expenditures on a grand funeral to honour him after his death would serve no purpose as he lay motionless in his casket unable to appreciate goings-on.
In effect, “Give me my flowers while I can still smell them!”
Bob Cole’s situation resonates with that of many Ghanaian oldies who live in penury and die miserably.
However, on their death, their children living abroad jet in to give them grand “befitting funerals” at which money is splashed about rather obscenely!
The question often asked is, if such children had that much money, why did they not take good care of their parents?
Friend’s quip
Congratulating a friend on his book launch some years ago, a lady quipped saying humorously in Twi, “Daakye w’ayie ase beye fe paa!” to wit “someday, your funeral will be a beautiful/grand one.”
Asked why that unusual way of congratulating him, she simply answered, the number of people there and the goodwill and love shown were testimony to what people thought and felt about him.
To her, he had been given his flowers while he could still smell them, living.
Abraham Lincoln
The 16th President of the United States, who was assassinated in 1865 for abolishing the slave trade, Abraham Lincoln said, “A nation that does not honour its heroes will not long endure.”
Over time, it has been modified though with the same import to, “a nation that does not honour its heroes, is not worth dying for!”
Has Ghana honoured our deserving heroes?
In September 2001, Zimbabwe’s Centre for Peace Initiatives in Africa (CPIA), honoured the first African United Nations Force Commander, Ghana’s General E.A Erskine by naming a Centre after him called the “General Erskine Research and Documentation Centre” (GERDC.)
With his death in 2021, hopefully a monument will be named after him posthumously.
However, there is a waiting opportunity to honour Ghana’s second UN Force Commander and former Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), General Seth Obeng, while he is alive.
While there certainly are others, I have restricted myself only to the institution I know well, the military.
As Bob Cole said, multitudinous platitudes heaped during thanksgiving services mean nothing to the deceased as they lie stiff in the “chop-box” as a little boy called his grandfather’s casket!
While they are alive, let us give deserving individuals the recognition, praise and honour for their contributions to Ghana or humanity and also to encourage the younger generation to make sacrifices, in the words,
“Give me my flowers while I can still smell them.”
Leadership, lead! Fellow Ghanaians, wake up!
The writer is former CEO, African Peace Support Trainers Association, Nairobi, Kenya & Council Chairman, Family Health University College, Accra..
DISCLAIMER: Independentghana.com will not be liable for any inaccuracies contained in this article. The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author’s, and do not reflect those of The Independent Ghana.
The Queen’s state funeral service was steeped in tradition, complete with a military procession and age-old hymns. However, there were also some incredibly personal touches within the ceremony and pageantry.
They served as a gentle reminder that this event was also a loving homage to a mother, grandmother, churchgoer, and dog lover. It was also a nation’s farewell to a monarch.
Corgis
Two of the Queen’s beloved corgis Muick and Sandy awaited the procession carrying her coffin to St George’s Chapel inside Windsor Castle.
One on a red lead and one on a blue, they were escorted by two pages in red tailcoats as the coffin of their beloved former owner came past.
Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, and Sarah, Duchess of York, will take on the two young dogs that the prince and his daughters gave the Queen as a present in 2021.
Her Majesty owned more than 30 corgis during her lifetime. So strong was the association that almost immediately after her death, well-wishers began asking who would adopt the dogs.
Emma, the Queen’s fell pony, also greeted the procession, standing in a gap in the floral tributes on The Long Walk – an avenue leading to Windsor Castle.
Jewellery
The Princess of Wales wore a four-row Japanese pearl choker necklace with a curved diamond clasp, which once belonged to the Queen.
The Queen, who commissioned the design using cultured pearls from the Japanese government, wore it regularly in the 1980s and 1990s.
It had previously been loaned to Diana, the former Princess of Wales, in 1982. Catherine wore it for the first time in 2017 to celebrate the Queen and Prince Phillip’s 70th wedding anniversary and later for his funeral in 2021.
IMAGE SOURCE,PA MEDIA
The princess also wore a pair of diamond and pearl earrings known as the Bahrain Pearl Earrings, which she had been given by the Queen.
The earrings feature a large Bahrain pearl hanging from one large round diamond stud, from which four smaller round diamonds and three baguette diamonds are also suspended. They were given to the Queen as a wedding present by the Hakim of Bahrain in 1947.
The Duchess of Sussex also paid tribute to Her Majesty through her choice of jewellery for the funeral, by wearing a pair of pearl stud earrings, which the Queen had given her as a gift for her wedding to Prince Harry.
IMAGE SOURCE,PA MEDIA
A lone piper
The service at Westminster Abbey closed to the haunting sound of bagpipes, played by the Queen’s personal piper.
For 70 years, largely without exception, the Piper to the Sovereign would play each morning for 15 minutes beneath the Queen’s window, wherever she was resident.
The inclusion of Pipe Major Paul Burns – who had served since 2021 – was a personal request of the Queen, Buckingham Palace said.
IMAGE SOURCE, REUTERS
He played the traditional lament “sleep, dearie, sleep” – the sound of which appeared to fade as he turned and walked down the internal steps of Westminster Abbey.
He is the 17th Piper to the Sovereign – the role was created by Queen Victoria in 1843 after she grew fond of the sound of bagpipes on a visit to the Highlands with Prince Albert.
Flowers
At King Charles III’s request, the wreath for Her Majesty’s funeral contained flowers and foliage cut from the gardens of Buckingham Palace and Clarence House in London – and Highgrove House in Gloucestershire.
IMAGE SOURCE, REUTERS
It included foliage chosen for its symbolism: Rosemary for remembrance – rosemary has long been associated with remembrance, Myrtle, the ancient symbol of a happy marriage, cut from a plant that was grown from a sprig of myrtle in The Queen’s wedding bouquet in 1947, English oak, a national symbol of strength, in a nod to the Queen’s constancy and steadfast duty. It also symbolizes the strength of love.
In among the flowers was a handwritten card that read: “In loving and devoted memory, Charles R.”
A favorite hymn
The Lord’s My Shepherd was one of the hymns sung by the 2,000 mourners at Westminster Abbey. It was said to have been a personal favorite of the Queen and was also sung at her wedding to the Duke of Edinburgh in 1947 at Westminster Abbey.
The young Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret had summoned the Master of Choristers to Buckingham Palace in the lead-up to the wedding and sang for him the particular version she wanted to be used.
IMAGE SOURCE,PA MEDIA
Image caption,
The Royal Wedding at Westminster Abbey in 1947
The hymn’s roots have been traced back to a parish in Aberdeenshire, not far from Balmoral Castle, where the Queen passed away.
