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Sunday, 25 December 2011

Gone II.

In my Friday mourning mood I forgot to mention that this year we experienced also a great tragic loss of 3 Czech hockey players, who died at tragic catasthrophe at Jaroslavl in Russia on September 7th. The circumstances of this tragic accident were a mystery for a long time but it seems that the pilot is to blame. Either guilty or not, it is too late anyway. Karel Rachůnek, Josef Vašíček and Jan Marek (and also Slovak hockey player Pavol Demitra) are gone forever. Guys of my age, fathers of kids, full of life, homesick. The world seems to be unjust.

Friday, 23 December 2011

Gone

I am not much into the spiritual things but I hear that year 2011 was not supposed to be a great year, more the year of a stability only. It contains too much of "1" and that it is not a good a sign. I am afraid it is so. A week before Christmas we suffered a great loss - our former President Václav Havel died on Saturday December 18, aged 75.

The funeral ceremony is taking place at this moment in St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague. World leaders arrived from all over the world to pay their respects and the whole ceremony is very moving. He is remembered by so many people - thousands of them arrived to say last good-bye to his remains that have been on display in St. Anna church since Monday.

I am becoming a bit emotional too - he was a man from Prague, a president for me. He was quite small, never protruding, very modest and kind, not loud and I cannot believe that in spite of these features he is really gone FOREVER. We will not hear his typical slow stammering flow or words anymore, no more funny comments on his walking style. Our small country has not many people that would be commemorated in the world but I dare say that Václav Havel definitely will be the one and his deeds will never be forgotten. His wit and kindness opened the way to people's hearts.

Lastly what I wanted to confess was a link to the "stable" year of 2011 - second half of it seems to be connected to death. In Czech showbusiness there were some passings that illustrate the unfortunate fullfillment of 2011 - Zdeněk Miler (author of Krteček), Jiří Vondráček (father of Helena), Bohumil Fišer (an ex-Minister), Ladislav Lakomý and Erik Pardus (Brno actors), Jiří Dienstbier (a politician), Simona Monyová (a writer, actually she was murdered) etc. And if I remember also some foreign deaths - Kim Chong-Il (Korean dictator died the same day as Václav Havel), Annie Girardot (a French actress), Steve Jobs (a founder of Apple), Muammar Kaddafi (Lybian dictator), Otto von Habsburg (oldest son of last Austrian emperor Karel).

Václav Havel would not want all this fuzz that started after he passed away. He was modest and must really smile when he see what is happening here. But he should know we are doing it out of sheer respect to him. Above all, he was an ordinary man that fought against evil.
The funeral ceremony is over - Havel's coffin is leaving the cathedral. People standing outside at Hradcanske Namesti are clapping and rattling their keys. In my deepest respect. Rest in Peace Mr. President.