It was 5 years ago yeasterday that my friend Harry Watts died. He was killed in a car accident just yards from his house on 22nd May 2006.
I remember finding out he had dies on msn. Rosie asked if I’d heard about Harry. I said, ‘oh what’s the silly bugger gone and done now?’ She told me he’d been killed, I didnt believe her and said if she was joking it wasnt funny, it was sick. But no. It was true. After that I was crying so hysterically my brother came to see what was wrong. He just held me for about half an hour and got my other brother, Rob, to call my mum to come home. I cried myself to sleep in my mums arms that night.
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| Harry playing his favorite sport |
The next day at school Harry’s year was due to take their English Lit GCSE. I remember walking into school and hearing a little year 7 ask his mate why everyone was crying. I shouted at him that a year 11 had died the night before and swore at him. I never did get to say sorry for that. It had been silent on my bus that morning. Deafeningly so when the bus driver stopped to pick up Harry and he never got on. We had to tell him what had happened. As I was a year 10 every lesson was important but I remember missing so many that week as we had been told if we needed to we could go somewhere on the school grounds to think. I remember leaving a lesson my best friend Becky and finding my friend Dan Hawkins, who was Harry’s best friend, and someone else sitting up against the cage in silence. We went and sat with them and just talked about the memories of Harry we had. Becky often got the bus home to mine so she had gotten to know him better over the past year. We must have been there for almost an hour as the bell went and as the classrooms spilled out onto tennis courts for break more peole came to sit with us.
Dan and I had a camp booked for the weekend. We both didn’t want to go but knew that Harry would have wanted us to be having fun not sitting at home crying. So we both went and hung out with each other and got lots of prayer too. I will never forget what someone told us that weekend, “After someone you love has died always remember this: It’s okay to be sad when you’re sad but it is even more okay to be happy when you’re happy.” As simple and obvious as it sounds you need to hear this because after the death of a loved one you can sometimes feel guilty for laughing, smiling and being happy. But that’s how they would want you to be, to remember their lives and the good times not that they have now gone.
Rest in peace Harry. Have fun hanging out with Jesus till I get there! And say Hi to my brothers and sister who are up in heaven too! I'll never forget you Harrybo!
Charles Henry (Harry) Watts 22-January-1990 - 22-May-2006. xx
