I was there yesterday. squeezed into the back of the church for the funeral of one of my inspirations; Matt Laffan  That was hard. The fact he was only 7 years older than me and died of complications from his disability is even harder.

6 or 7 hundred people were counted there, with PB and I parked somewhat awkwardly among a rather eclectic collection of people with disability at the back of the church. That bit at least wasn’t deliberate, more a case of “guilty through neglect”. Even though the family and whoever else shifted the service to accommodate  a larger crowd, I don’t think Matt’s modesty would allow them to expect the numbers that arrived. Black clad for the most part with tissues and giggles in roughly equal measure.

It seems now that many were in some sense prepared for the passing. That is sad in a sene. I had had contact with him evidently just before he got sick for the last time.

Some half a dozen heart felt eulogies headed the somewhat low-Catholic service which spanned 2 hours. His parents each spoke with amazing strength and clarity; most of which their only son would have been proud of (too much medical detail in parts regarding the disability that we all knew he had) Lawyers, rugby officials, old college chums and the head of the peak disability organization simply demonstrated   the breadth of his input and influence. As someone said, his life was truly a full one with the fact he had somewhat severe disabilities a mere part.

This is really hard for me. It feels like the end of an era. For one thing, I doubt my job would have existed were it not for him. He made my job both difficult and easy almost simultaneously. He asked questions of the right people above me to elicit responses that re-enforced all the things that push me out of bed on a Monday morning. His focus was on the right of all to contribute as fully as they wished in any aspect of life. That this right was also a responsibility to be exercised respectfully and fully as with life in general. He was on the Access Committee and was not too bitter to do it again.

The fact that he was one of my “self-appointed” silent partners as it were meant that our friendship by necessity took a back seat. I will miss this most of all. I will miss the smile. The charm. The intellect that I could take a dive in. He was a human educator who was very human,

Vale

Related audio interview:20090302-laffan-farrjones

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