Launch Day

I cannot believe how quickly that time went.

Today was the launch of our amazing tribute to the Fallen of WWI on the lawns of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.  Nearly six years in the making, and just as Margy and I envisioned it at the AWM all that time ago.  And Phil’s spectacular embodiment of that vision is genius!

It feels like forever and no time at all.

62,000 beautiful handcrafted poppies … representing 62,000 lives lost in WWI.

It is sobering.

And it is also sobering to walk through our field, and really feel the meaning behind every one of those blooms.

The depth of feeling that went into the making … handmade by our magnificent tribe from all over the world … with love, honour and respect.

And the stories that came with the blooms … some tragic, some heroic, some heartwarming, but all very, very real.

What an amazing privilege.

Some of our beautiful blooms are slightly worn by the patina of their travels through the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and Fromelles, France for the Centenary of the Battle of Fromelles in 2016.  They will fade, as poppies in the field do.  But that will be part of the story too.

I am sure it will be on the news tonight everywhere, but I am equally sure that it will be breaking the internet as well.  So stunning are the images coming out of Canberra today.

There are so many to thank … where do you start.

My heart is full.