Remembering a Day

It's a day that will no doubt be filled with 400,000 stories of 'what if'.  Mine, like many others, starts similarly.  It was a grey dreary day, I was at home with my children.  The heavy clouds blanketed the city, it was easy to change our plans.  My daughter slept, longer than usual, and rather than rouse her from her beautiful sleep (as would usually happen when catering to the first child's needs) I thought -let her be.  So we stayed at home rather than going in to the city to visit a prospective school for my son.
I would later be grateful for that rain.
While she slept, I cooked dinner for that night- a first, placing it in the oven on timer to reheat for 6pm that evening.
Many people would later be grateful for that precooked meal.

By the day's end our lives had all been changed, irrecoverably for some.  By the day's end we would all be humbled by the strength of some and the generosity of others. 

By the end of that day, the 22nd February, 2011, there were many more things I could be grateful for, many that I'd never previously considered. 


There will be many opportunities to gather and commemorate that day, the lives lost and the lives changed; kia kaha New Brighton and Christchurch folk- this day may be more difficult than you imagine.  Take time to talk to someone- neighbour, friend, reach out- hug someone! 



Service to mark the 1st anniversary of the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake will be held at Latimer Square from 8am-8.45am on Wednesday 22 February 2012.  This is a family focused event that the public are welcome to attend.  
The Civic Memorial Service will be held from 12 noon until 1.30pm and this will be followed by the Christchurch Earthquake Awards.

Community Commemorations
The River of Flowers is a collaborative attempt to provide opportunities for people to commemorate 22 February in their own way and with their local community.  To find out where the sites are or promote an event CLICK HERE.

At 8 - 10 designated sites along the Avon, local community groups will host memorial gathering points. These will be signposted and open from 8am to 8pm on 22 February and include a bucket of rose petals and a Tree of Hope to which messages can be pinned throughout the day. Folk will be invited to come down to the site with live flowers and cast them into the river (or use some of the rose petals provided) and write a message for the Tree of Hope (these will be gathered up throughout all the sites and published in a book). Between 12:30 and 1:30pm folk will be invited to gather at the sites if they can and at 12:51 a bell or trumpet will sound to mark the start of 2 minutes silence and then again at the end of the 2 minutes. At this point 10 red helium-filled biodegradable balloons will be released from each site and communities will be encouraged to participate in other remembrance gestures. Red Cross and Community & Public Health staff will also be attending each site.