Image courtesy of Smyth’s Toys

Just before Christmas we headed across the border into Scotland to have a quick visit with our niece and to drop off Christmas presents for our great nephew and his sister.

The highlight, as gifts go was a rocking sheep which I am told my great niece loved, and we were sent a photograph of her sitting on it with a huge smile.

As we sat for dinner at the hotel my husband who had a birthday on the weekend we were away commented that he had not been in Scotland for his birthday since 1988. He was able to pinpoint the date exactly because that was the day that flight Pan Am 103 crashed to the ground, killing all onboard and eleven locals, including several friends of my husbands.

It was no surprise that there were others staying at the hotel who made the journey across the Atlantic to honour their loved ones. We also met a lady who worked for Pan Am as flight crew, who knew the crew who perished.

Over the years I have visited the memorial at the cemetery in Lockerbie and at Tundergarth, a hamlet just outside of Lockerbie many times. I have not shared my photographs here, but do share this from Undiscovered Scotland. There have been several books about the disaster published as well as documentaries, several of which were released last year. 

What I am reminded of, is that like all historical events, there are many different facets to those events. One event is shared by the families of all those that died, those who were from Lockerbie who became involved in some way, those who were Airline staff, or students from Syracuse University. Each individual, however they were involved, has their own interpretation and memory, all of which adds to the collective.