A British couple’s round-the-world cycling odyssey ended in tragedy when both of them were killed in a road accident in Thailand.

Peter Root and Mary Thompson, who had been chronicling their journey in a blog, died Wednesday when they were hit by a pickup truck in a province east of Bangkok, Thai police said Monday.

The couple, both 34 and from Guernsey in the Channel Islands, left Britain in July 2011 and had cycled through Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and China. The trip was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the couple, who met in art school and spent six years saving money and planning their journey. (1)

This reminds me of the story of Diagoras of Rhodes (Διαγόρας ὁ Ῥόδιος)…

His three sons were Olympic champions. The oldest son, Damagetos, won the pankration in 452 and 448 BC. Akousílaos, the second son, won the boxing in 448 BC. The two celebrated their victory by carrying their father around the stadion on their shoulders, cheered loudly by the spectators. This was considered the peak of happiness that a human being could experience, achieving great glory and yet having this glory matched or even surpassed by one’s own children. Legend has it that during Diagoras’ triumphant ovation on the shoulders of his sons, a spectator shouted:

Κάτθανε, Διαγόρα, οὐ καὶ ἐς Ὅλυμπον ἀναβήσῃ
Die, Diagoras, for Olympus you will not ascend

the meaning being that he has reached the highest honor possible for a man. Indeed Diagoras died on the spot, and was since considered the very happiest mortal that ever lived. (2)

I don’t know about you, but dying with the person you love while doing what you always dreamed of doing, sounds IDEAL to me!!! I don’t know if I will go to “Olympus” or Paradise any time soon… But I will try to live well and die well at least. And if I am lucky, that mystic process called death may take a snapshot of my happiness to put it in the Universe’s wall for ever…