Strong, intelligent, independent, glamorous- just some of the words that have come up from others when talking about Mum.
I’d like to add fearless …… fearless in pursuing the joy in life, fearless in achieving her goals, fearless in love, essentially fearless in all that she did.
Friendship was one of the strongest and defining themes of her life, and as we look around today and see many of her friends here, that is brought home.  So many of you have described to us the friendship she had with you and the impact it had and I think that, besides her family, is the legacy she would be most proud of.
 
Continuing the theme of friendship, I cannot stand here without mentioning the special relationship she had with my husband Graeme & Sarah’s partner Matt.  She loved both as though they were her sons, she was supportive of them in the same way she was to us all.  I know that Graeme has been consistently envied the brilliant Mother/Son in law relationship they shared.  Having lost his parents I know what a comfort Mum was to Graeme and how much he loved her and valued her support and friendship, not least when I have been in poor health.  However, they truly bonded over a shared love of a silly joke.
 
Another great love in her life – the one and only Rod Stewart always brings me to one specific memory, over and above knowing a great many of his song lyrics thanks to Sunday afternoon drives accompanied by Rod.  Some of you may recall that Rod actually came to play in Ipswich, to say Mum was excited was a huge understatement!  She saw him two nights in a row, and I will never forget that it gave me a glimpse of Mum as a giddy teenager.  Somehow our roles were reversed with me taking on a parental role, I thought she may need to be slightly calmer before she could go to bed after she got home, completely giggly about all things Rod. 
Of course, there was the recent role reversal for us all where in her illness it was our turn to help care for and support her as she has done for us all our lives.  For me this was especially poignant given the extra care and support she gave to me during serious illness in my teens, all while working full time and raising Sarah and Ben too.  How she did it I will never know.  Well I do, it was her strength and the fearlessness I spoke about earlier.

Although she is gone physically  I know she is still with us, and I hear her voice daily.  I also have no doubt wherever she is she’s making the same contribution there as she did in life and making it a wonderful place to be.