Cedric Lane – what a nice name for a new road! Well, you have not had the chance to think on it as I have done. Let me tell you about it and you may agree with me…

My big brother, Bill, who lives in Australia, has recently returned from a holiday in the Philippines (from where my lovely sister-in-law originates). If you have been following my blog, you will perhaps remember that our entire family was terribly worried for several days when we heard no news of our loved ones abroad during, and after, typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines to devastating effect. Luckily, although not far away in Batangas, Bill’s family, and Lita’s relatives also, missed the cyclone’s wrath; and they were unaffected apart from being inaccessible due to the problem that communications were down extensively. In my heart I knew that they would be alright – in a crisis Bill would keep everyone safe. And he did, but in a different way. Something else quite unexpected happened.

For some time now Bill and Lita have been considering buying a block of land in the Philippines, something rural  to be used as a sort of retreat from their usual lifestyle. They found the almost perfect spot about four kilometres from the nearest township; three acres of fertile land with a creek at the bottom of it. The only problem appeared to be that there was no road access to it.

News travels fast in small communities and Bill heard about the plight of a poor farmer whose ten year old son was dying of peritonitis for want of the $1,500 required to pay for the operation. Bill was prepared to cover the hospital fees, with no strings attached – what price the life of a child? However, the farmer was proud and found another way to receive the sum, a way that would be acceptable and beneficial to them both…in exchange he offered my brother a thin strip of his land, wide enough to be used as a road, which leads to the three acre block that Bill has been thinking of buying.

“Did the little boy live?” I asked Bill after he told us his story (we were on Skype).

“Yes, at present his insides are in a bag outside of his body but he will be having another operation in January. He will be alright though,” Bill’s eyes welled up. “If I buy the property, we’re going to call the access road Cedric Lane, after the little boy, Cedric.”

“Oh, that’s lovely Bill,” five of us here said together as we all dabbed at our eyes too (it was a family Skyping session).

And that is why I think Cedric Lane is such a nice name for a new road. Bill Lane would be quite good too.