Such a small word with such profound and enormous meaning, impact and relevance to just who we are as nations, communities and our individual beings.
Without Truth, what do we have? Without it, who are we?
It has been just over three years since those fateful two days in Regents Park, and as I’ve edged forward in the different processes of dealing with police officers, coroners, pathologists, lawyers, government and political officials, the most frequent question I am asked is, when will I get closure, what will be that point? Also, what do I hope to get out of this, what do I hope to achieve?
The answer in not automatic. In fact, it grows and matures over time, a natural healer, and as things progress and reveal themselves, as the mist clears and the entanglement of things, untangle, so the answers emerge.
And to answer it, I have to answer it for both Gerhard and me and his family.
I came to a point of two deeply personal and impactful junctures in being able to give the answer.
The first, fundamentally the greatest, was Truth. Without it, Gerhard would remain restless, and the phrase “Rest in Peace” rendered useless to him and to us. Without Truth, we never have peace.
The second, also of substantial importance, is a sense of Justice. Justice means you were heard, the feeling of injustice put right.
Truth and Justice. Often grouped together, seen as one. But I have come to realize they are distinctly different. Justice means different things to different people. To some, justice is sufficient with acknowledgement and remorseful apology, to others, prosecution and incarceration. We each have our own views and tolerance levels, each driven by our own personal make ups. Neither is wrong nor right. Justice is personal, and from it, we are able to heal.
Truth though, is a different animal. There is no tolerance level or personal opinion. Truth stands on its own. There is no margin or variance to it. It is clinical and sterile.
Without truth there can be no true justice and healing is prevented, leaving a permanent wound to the soul.
Peace is born of Truth.
Without truth, the dead are condemned to eternal restlessness, and the living, a lifetime of mental anguish.
Without truth, there is no closure. And therein lay my answer.
I will not stop until truth is laid bare.
From truth I can wind down, have a measure of closure, and begin a process of healing while justice takes its course.
One of Gehard's last stops traced on that morning was to Starbucks where he spent what appears to be his regular choice of double shot espresso coffee and a toasted sandwich.
If you are abe too, please consider a £5 donation to his campaign (the cost of the coffee and sandwhich) which will help with the extentsive legal fees in fighting for truth and ensuring his right to justice. (Click on the link below)
