So, after I promised I wouldn’t write about the Commonwealths again I dragged myself and my daughters to the closing ceremony on Monday night.
It was one of those events which felt like a step too far after having already been in Birmingham 4 times the previous week (not to mention a trip to Scotland for work) I could have just done with sitting on my sofa with my eyes shut.
Grace was terrific though, she shamed me into going and we sat in the south side of the Alexander stadium at about 7.50 on Monday night (knowing that I wouldn’t get to bed until about 1.30 and was travelling to Scotland the next day (this time for fun).
I had no insight into what the closing ceremony would be like having only ever been to one closing ceremony before (2012 Paralympics).
But I was dazzled.
It wasn’t just the show, it was the thought that had gone into the show.
I think people are now concerned that opening and closing ceremonies are out shadowing actual events, but I don’t think that’s true, but this was on a par with anything else that I’d seen at the Commonwealths.
What struck me the most was the extraordinary celebration of all (at least all I could see) of the cultures that make up the west midlands.
In a world where huge amounts of noise is made about lack of diversity and lack of inclusion, the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony was not that.
It was hard to stay in your seat because it was so wonderfully culturally diverse, and the entertainment was 100% the whole time.
If you look closely enough there were images and gestures to so many groups and so many people for their contribution to what has made Birmingham the place that it is today.
In 2019 I took (an unwilling) trip to Birmingham to a university open day with Grace.
I’d already decided that I would like Grace to go to Edinburgh so it was with some trepidation and lack of enthusiasm that I travelled to look at Birmingham University for what I thought would be a wasted trip.
I was dazzled with what I saw and (despite the challenges of covid) Grace feels a great affiliation with Birmingham and is very proud to live there and to be a student there.
She was so invested in the Games and the closing ceremony did her pride in the city that she currently calls her home pure justice.
Without a shadow of a doubt (at least for Rosie and I) the stars of the show were the Punjabi MC’s who have been a long running fixture in our house around a story that’s far too long to tell here.
I saw UB40 and Dexys from my youth and then the surprise appearance of Ozzy Osbourne at the end was utterly ridiculous and wonderful.
But in amongst this was poetry and street music and edgy culture and art and celebration and wonder that blew my mind away.
It’s so often the case that the things that you ultimately drag yourself to when you felt a little bit tired or overwhelmed and thought the best thing to do was to sit in and close your eyes, are the things that inspire you to be a better version of yourself and that stay with you forever.
A wise friend of mine many years ago once suggested that I should take a day off sick the following day so that we could go and play golf.
I didn’t but he said to me ‘if you take a day off tomorrow unplanned, you’ll never forget it but if you don’t take a day off you won’t remember it”.
I would never have remembered the 8th of August 2022 had it not been for the fact I was in the Alexander stadium with my daughters.
Blog Post Number - 3171
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