On the 23rd May 2017 I woke up in my bed and heard the news of the horrific attack at Manchester Arena. A place I had laughed, danced, sang and had some of the best nights with my nearest and dearest.
My adopted home of Manchester was rocked to the core as we discovered that 22 people lost their lives and many more seriously injured whilst enjoying what should have been a memorable night. The target was so obviously young children and this alone shocked the city, country and world and I for one spent most of the day in tears.
However, as the mum of a young girl who was bound to learn about this at school, potentially from older children, I knew I had to talk to her so she heard it in an age appropriate way. My heart was broken not only for the affected families but that I had to expose my baby to this. What was I going to say?
So I opted to talk about the good. The firefighters, the taxi drivers, hoteliers and bystanders that selflessly helped the injured. Yes, I had to talk about a bad man but I had to reassure her that good beats evil. Disney ensures the good guys always come out on top and I was backing Disney.
There were questions but ultimately her innocence and desire to play cut the story short – much to my relief.
The city pulled together and then Ariana Grande decided to put on a benefit concert. Nigel was a superstar and managed to secure us some tickets – so on Sunday 4th June, less than 2 weeks since the event at the MEN, 50,000 people descended on Old Trafford Cricket Ground for a night of music and togetherness.
This was Ella’s first ever concert and I know she will never ever forget it and neither will we. The sense of togetherness and celebration was incredible and something that I have never been witness to before and probably never will.
Seeing my baby girl dancing to Black Eyed Peas, singing her heart out to Katy Perry and in awe of her idols Little Mix was really special. These little things along with the spontaneous chants from the 50,000 crowd made this a very emotional night. The security, the police and concert goers all dancing, singing and crying together was magical and we were privileged to be part of it. Don’t get me wrong we all wish it never had to happen but it did and Manchester kicked ass.
So our hearts were warmed and the healing process started and in the best possible way with music and fun.
Love wins – ALWAYS xx
thetravellingwilbennetts 