If you want to break someone’s heart, if you want them to care

make it personal.

Maddi, the seven-year-old daughter of British hostage Jason Creswell, wrote to her father in May 2009 to say how much she missed him. It read: “To Daddy, I miss you very much, we all want you to come home. I love you very much…”

Today it has been announced that after two years of being held hostage Jason’s body has been handed over to the British authorities in Iraq.

duckrabbit’s heart goes out to little Maddi and her family.

I’m reminded of the poet Larkin’s words:

‘Man hands on misery to man, it deepens like a coastal shelf’

This little girl’s words bring all that pain home more than any photo could.  Why?  Because  they’re so poignant, so personal, so much something that we can all relate to. Jason would have been proud of his daughter. The though of her must have kep him going through the darkness …

Tonight I feel sorry for the terrible part my country played in this mess. Sorry, shameful and sad. I hope someone sends a copy of Maddi’s letter to Bush and Blair. I hope that it stops their hearts.