Thursday 11th of March was Nathan's birthday and he had his pick of things to do. He decided he wanted to go to the Bill McLaren memorial evening at Murrayfield.
At first I thought this was a bit strange but it was his day so along we went. I was so impressed with the proffessionalism of the SRU and how well they respected Bill McLaren's memory. The evening was spent listening to music, hearing stories from Bill McLaren's friends, collegues and family. There was so much Scottish rugby history entwined in all the tales that I then understood why Nathan had wanted to come along. Not only that but at the end you left feeling a great sense of pride in your country and a testimony of what it is to be truely respected, admired and well thought of. It is not about being famous or proffessional achievements it is about family and having pride in what you do, being good at everything you do - even if you have to alter your goals. Giving back to others, being encouraging and being honest in your assessments too. The evening was truely moving.
Bill McLaren was known for watching all the rugby boys at training so he would know who was who on the field when he was commentating on their game. Nathan said he would stand at the side line and you felt honoured if you thought he was taking notes on you. He always carried a bag of sweeties from his home town, Hawick Balls and Nathan told me with great pride that a number of times after training at Edinburgh he had been offered a Hawick Ball sweet from Bill.
Ronnie Brown singing Scotland's national anthem. Dougie MacLean also sung Caledonia via video link- there was not a dry eye in the house at that point. Caledonia always gets me, everytime! So much national pride!
Bill McLaren had always enjoyed listening to the Welsh Mens Choir so they sung a number of songs as a tribute to him. They were amazing.
Rory Lawson, Bill McLaren's Grandson spoke very well on behalf of the family. It was really fitting that he joked that his Grandfather would be wondering what all the fuss was about as he was a very modest man. A truely great man and I am so glad that we went along to pay our respects.
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