On celebrating life and mourning loss

Many of us sadly learned yesterday of the death of a friend, colleague, husband, son, and wonderful human. You spend a great deal of time with people whom you work alongside. Quirks, qualities, values, thoughts are all transferred between people in every day conversation and it’s easy to become very fond of the people you work with.

Nigel died whilst riding his motorcycle, something I learned was one of his great passions in life shortly after meeting him. I do not know the details and have come to the conclusion that they are not necessary at this moment.

From what I believe, he watches over us in another world where he can be anywhere and everywhere at once, a physical body is no longer necessary nor desired in this realm. Nigel feels the great amount of sadness in everyone at the moment who processes what has happened.

I for one mourn the loss of life, knowing that there will be no new memories to be made and cherished. I mourn for the fact that Nigel leaves people who love & miss him in entirely different ways than I do.

Today I celebrate his life in the only way I know best: riding up Bokor mountain on a 125 Honda Airblade (He rode and loves his Triumph). The first time I drove a motorbike I felt exactly what Nigel was trying to convey with his passion for riding and I’m sure he knows that now, too. As we climb the mountain, I imagine him telling me about the quirks of riding on this bike & sharing stories of some of his great rides which he did at work.

Speaking of work, Nigel gave us freedom and left us to choose how we work, he created an environment that people want to work in. Nigel fuelled creativity and inspiration within employees and left people to determine how they should solve problems. Nigel focussed on the value we added, not the time we put in, making sure we knew our worth with constant feedback.

Cheers to you Nigel, thank you for enriching so many of our worlds. I choose to celebrate your life and be thankful that our paths crossed.

I’m sure you appreciated the views over Kampot & the Gulf of Thailand.

A lone gibbon watched over us as we lit incense in your honour.

My thoughts are with everyone else currently suffering this great loss