James Irvine
Denise,
Thank you so much for the VIP treatment for James last Sunday. To say
that he had a great time is an understatement.
From the moment that I told him about your offer of a corporate box he
was excited and I think that I mentioned that his comment was ... "at
least one good thing has happened because of this [cancer]".
There was plenty of tension, deciding which of his friends / relatives
would be coming, especially when he discovered that certain people
would NOT be able to attend. Then it really got interesting when we
could hear the action in the distance (as we don't live far) from time
to time on friday and saturday.
So, the friends / relatives started arriving at our place from all
around NSW on Saturday for the "big event". Everyone had arrived by
Sunday morning and we were finally ready for this most significant
occasion which will be remembered by all.
Some of the highlights were:-
Well, having all his family and friends there for the day was
important. They were really only there to support James but were very
surprised and actually enjoyed themselves much more than they thought
they would. Truth is .... even the teenagers were blown away .... I've
been telling them how good it is but it's hard to make people listen.
VIP parking - this was a priveledge as we usually try to park
somewhere to make an easy exit
The arm bands had VIP on them - now it was really sinking in .... this
was going to be a very memorable day. He actually felt like a VIP -
even the security guys recognised him as one and treated him so ....
The sign on the corporate box door had his name .... he liked that. He
wanted to retrieve it as a memento but we forgot.
All the caps, posters, signatures and photos
And not the least was meeting the drivers. They were excellent. Each
of them were well informed about James and appeared to be quite
comfortable to hang around for a while and tell stories and be
friendly.
Please thank John, Deno, Darren and especially Phil for taking time
and having patience. Their visits were most definitely the climax of
the day. We couldn't believe that Darren Morgan was hanging around
chatting only moments before he had a "race to run". And not just any
race .... the final.
As James' chemo was delayed that little bit longer for this event, and
he was a bit stronger, he and I were able to take a stroll around the
pits, as we used to do before he became unwell. It was different to
usual
though,
we weren't rushing around checking everything out, we kind of just
went down there and stood around for a while. We didn't have to do
much, it was just good to spend some time and be part of it. Luckily,
Jim was there tuning the Black Mamba and we almost introduced
ourselves, but he was busy.
Unfortunately, in the end it was all too much for him and the day had
to come to a conclusion. Once the two Phil's did their demonstration
run, and it was "all over" James was faced with nothing else to do but
... go home, eat, have a bath and go back to hospital for another
round of chemotherapy. He was completely shattered. It made him quite
seriously consider what this chemo, and life in general (including the
drags), was all about.
Thankfully he has recovered a little now and is remembering, as he
refers to it ... "the best day of his life". His hospital bed is now
adorned with flags, photos of relatives with shaved heads, and is
surrounded by posters of his favourite cars ... candles and all. I
probably don't need to mention that his bedroom ceiling has long had
posters of "Phil Read" and the "Black Mamba" blue-tacked and sticky
taped all over it well before he became ill.
I thank you very much for such a special day. I enjoyed it immensely,
and I think we have converted a few friends / relatives in the
delights of drag racing, but for James it was much more than that.
So much more ....
Thank you,
Simon Irvine
