A tale of two lives

The feeling was surreal. The framed photograph and the flowers placed by his party colleagues made the parliamentary seat look even emptier than it was. As we stood in silence paying our respects to Karl Chircop, I expected him to walk into the room with his loping gait and the ever-present smile on his face.

It was a grim experience with a Carmelo Abela who was visibly moved and openly shed tears like a man who was feeling the loss of a friend. You don't expect your friend to die at 43. Death is grim at any time and at any age but it is grimmer when it cuts a full life short and deprives a wife of a young husband and four children of their father and a mother of her son.

Everyone in the room experienced a sense of loss, some to a greater degree than others.

The general perception is that members of Parliament from different sides of the House are constantly at one another's throat and invariably at loggerheads.

One of my friends, who should have known better, was surprised when she saw me in what was obviously a friendly conversation with a member of the opposition. She admitted that she had expected us to ignore one another at best or to provide instant entertainment by going for one another in the middle of a party. First timers sitting in the Strangers' Gallery are sometimes surprised at the easy flow of members chatting to one another and sometimes crossing from one side to the other.

There are some strong friendships between Nationalist and Labour MPs.

Thank God for that. We are women and men who have a life outside politics, who have families we love, who have family problems, who share "a place of work" that is very demanding and very taxing. We may appear to be aggressive in public but there is another side to all of us.

Karl was a gentle person and a gentleman.

He brought his patients' problems into his parliamentary contributions.

When he spoke about housing, about unemployment, about health matters he was using first-hand experience and he was not just speaking about issues but about real people who needed their lives to change for the better.

He said what he had to say and then let it ride.

On one occasion he rushed into the room and immediately started his 40-minute contribution, rather breathless from the rush. At the end of it, he crossed the room, sat down next to me and said that he had been visiting a family that needed a social worker more than it needed a doctor but he could not bring himself to leave their home until he had taken the time necessary to give them some peace of mind even though he knew he was running late.

That, in my book, says all there is to say about the man.

Rest well, Karl.

At exactly twice Karl's age, Jane Spiteri passed away.

Co-founder of the National Council of Women in 1964, a social worker, a probation officer, an educator, Jane fought all her life for everything she believed in. And she believed in so many things. With an incredible tenacity and stamina she battled through life, always looking and seeking for change. She had an opinion about everything and she made sure it was heard, loud and clear. Amazingly comfortable with everyone, she would look people straight in the eye and say it exactly as it is. One might not agree with her but she always made a point that was worth considering.

Nothing was impossible as long as the goodwill was present. A dreamer and a visionary to the very end, she lived life to the full, always in service to others. A quiet revolutionary in so many ways.

At her funeral I could not resist an aside to my friend that Jane was probably telling the Lord that he had to reorganise his choirs of angels. My friend said she was positive that Jane was querying if there was an equal representation of female and male saints looking down on us.

Impossible to think of her as being still for a minute. Her mind leapt from one thing to the other, always coming up with fresh ideas.

The last time I saw her she was in a hospital bed doing her best to run the ward.

That's the Jane I know and the Jane I want to remember.

Her family wrote this of "Aunty Jane":

"Bold were you when no one dared.
"Wise and calm when troubles stirred.
"Never left a stone unturned.
"Your will to help is your mark of fame.
"No one like you..."

No one like her.

Ms Cristina is Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport.