It's no secret that I'm not a great one for place attachment. Almost every significant building in my life has been demolished or compeletly redesigned. Places I walked have been buried under housing estates. Recently I discovered that the church building where I was baptised and ordained is about to be sold - no doubt it will be demolished (it's not a nice building!!). And so on, and so forth.
At the same time, I am very aware that for other people buildings and places carry huge signficance. In this place all the major milestones of their lives were marked. Here they went to school; there they met their life-partner... so I am always careful not to let my experiences undermine the authentic attachments of others.
It was a bit of surprise, then, last Sunday when I was spending some time alone in the Gathering Place, taking photos of noticeboards and other random, mundane things, that a memory floated up from my subconscious dating back to 16th September 2010!
A beautiful sunny day... a Thursday... and a day when, 24 days (I just counted!) after my cancer diagnosis, and the ensuing rush of appointments and tests and goodness knows what, I had a gift of a day to draw breath. A day in which I went into the hall and span (spun?, not sure of correct form!) myself round and round like a child until I was dizzy.
I realised that, for me, this place carries part of my story too - my major life events. Not in the once beautiful sanctuary, but in the tired, red lino of the hall; not only in the public and wonderful, such as my induction, but in the private and poignant, such as that day in 2010.
Perhaps it's ironic that the hospital where I was diagnosed is no more... perhaps it is the story of my life that places where my signficant moments exist only in my imperfect memory.
Today, I will be travelling north to stay in a real live castle, and to conduct a marriage ceremony for a young couple. One day they will look back and recall that place, that day... one day, too, this place will be part of my story and, mysteriously, I part of its.