Open Letter to @Ginab0beena

Open Letter to @Ginab0beena

Dear Gina

You have changed.

You burst into to my timelines a bit over a year ago earnestly discussing a teddy bear’s picnic with your friend. I couldn’t resist displaying my knowledge of Winnie the Pooh, not expecting a response. Who replied I don’t recall but I was drawn into the exchanges.  I grew to love your tweets. Not just because you shared my concerns about the harm of religion but because you could so skilfully sum up your experience in a few words.     

  

The topics you tweeted on ranged from work, dog sitting, the wealthy dunks at a regatta to shoes.  Shoes always featured a lot.  You tweeted about being in and out relationships.  In so many ways your tweets were  just about being young and alive. One running theme was your plan to travel.  You could not wait for the days to pass.  You longed to kick the English dust from one of your many pairs of shoes.

But something has happened to you, Gina, something more profound that anyone could have predicted.  Your recent tweets have moved me so very deeply. If I believed in Hell, I’d say you were tweeting from there.  Some of your tweets are painful to read and must be so much more painful to tweet.  Yet you tweet with such clarity and compassion.  More than that, you show so much strength and a desire to find a way forward. Any yet you remain Gina, in so many ways.

Something has changed Gina. You have started to record the condition of the children in Cambodia in a way that breaks my heart. You are putting what you see in plain but very powerful words.

Gina, you make me want to help. I do not believe I am alone in that. Who could not be moved by your account of a three year old child eating rotten fruit from a bin or horrified by a mother telling you how her two year old child was raped on the streets?  

We need to decide on the best way to help and, as I say, I will certainly contribute and  I am certain that many others will contribute too.  You have said there is a charity you have seen and you want to check it out further. Please give us details  about it. We will raise a fund to help.

Gina, look after yourself.

Love

Noel.