This post had a working title of “Love takes many forms” but, as I will explain later, I changed it when a certain piece of information became apparent to me.

I have been a great fan of Queen for many, many years and Freddie Mercury was, in my humble opinion, the greatest showman the world has ever known.

It may surprise you to know, therefore, that until today I hadn’t seen the film “Bohemian Rhapsody”.

I know it has been on TV a number of times but it has always been on channels that I don’t subscribe to and I rarely, if ever, buy DVDs. I’m also not a cinema-goer, although my daughter saw it at the cinema when it first came out and said that I really MUST see it.

It just so happened that I was in the electrical department of a shop yesterday, having just picked out a new steam iron, and I was browsing through the games/music/films section when I spotted it on sale for just £7. THAT was an offer too good to pass up!

I had quite a busy day planned for today but ensured this morning that I made time to at least start watching it on my laptop.

Love takes many forms, and it is no exaggeration to say that I will “love” Freddie Mercury to the end of my days, and beyond if possible.

I love his voice, I love the way he performed, I love his creativeness, and I love the way he carried on caring about his fans right through to the very end. I have always missed him so very much and wish this cruel world hadn’t taken him from us so soon.

Needless to say there were numerous occasions when I found myself crying while watching the film and, upon returning home from my prearranged appointment, I cried even more as I watched the remainder of it.

This evening I hooked the laptop up to my TV, watched the whole film again, and the tears duly followed.

I had been so pleased when Rami Malek won the Oscar for his portrayal of Freddie, especially having heard of how much hard work he put in to preparing for the part, and now I’ve seen the film I can truly appreciate the results. An epic performance!

So, I came back to the laptop to begin writing this post with the aim of using the way I feel about Freddie to expand on the statement that “Love takes many forms” by expressing the way I love to be able to dress in ways that suit my true gender, the way I love certain foods, the fact that I love to travel and see the world, the way I love seeing acts of kindness in the world, etc. etc.

I was also going to add that I had loved having the opportunity to see Queen perform live at Knebworth many years ago and it was then, when I searched online to check the date of that event, that I discovered something I had never realised before; something that I will forever be thankful for, and something which brought even more tears.

Saturday 9th August 1986 was the last ever live, on stage performance by Queen.

If I hadn’t been there on that particular day with 120,000 other adoring fans then I would never again have had the opportunity to witness this great band and this amazing person perform live.

Needless to say, after the shock of that realisation had passed through me the tears came again as the poignancy struck home.

I love you Freddie.

I will always love you.

Thank you for everything, and may the universe keep you safe from harm.