Retracing my steps

We left India on 23rd December 1985. Catherine, my daughter, was five and a half years old. Pax had died in Bhopal, and we had never returned to the city. There are various complex reasons why we did not return, including Catherine's illness eighteen months after Pax died. And the terrible Bhopal disaster.

In fact, when I tell people that my son died in Bhopal in central India, the name of the city is familiar to many people (and the typical question was whether he died in that disaster - the answer is no). The briefest of facts about that disaster:

"During the night of December 3, 1984, a Union Carbide pesticide plant exploded in the north Indian city of Bhopal, releasing toxic gases that killed between 15,000 and 30,000 people."

The people of Bhopal are still suffering as a result. Visit http://bhopal.net/ for information.

Bhopal is the scene of tragedy for many people, not just me.

So... going back to India. I had always wanted to return; I've been saving up for it, but either could not afford to go (most of the time!) and/or my priority was the care of Catherine. Caring for the living took precedence. But now she has gone, it's time for Pax.

In 24 hours we (me and Simon, my second husband, no physical relation to the children though he has been as a real father to Catherine) will be airborne, arriving in Mumbai late on 7th January 2013.

It's going to be strange to return to India, and it is a return, rather than a going forward.

But perhaps by returning, I will find a way forward. I hope so.