Time may pass and fade away, But memories of you will always stay. To me you were so special, someone good and true. Never will I forget you, I thought the world of you. Love you mum, Paul.

Dear Nana You have been better than the best. We don't want to lay you to rest. Oh but you must dear, you must.... as you would say. It's up to you now, to lead the way. Show your children that you're strong and proud. You must not ever let them down. Nana you always spoke so wisely. Honest and kindly. To think just how much we have done, every memory, a special one. So dear nana, let us steer. We can take it from here. Please rest now Nana, do not worry about us. You have taught us all how to be tough. Thank you so much Nana, for just being you, we all love you, and know you loved us too. Xxx Poem by Claire'B, read at the Church Funeral service

“Wouldn’t it be nice if women lived on one island, and men on another,” Nana once said to me. “We could make them swim across when we wanted them.” Nana was funny. She loved laughing, having a good time. “I was just passing….” She’d say, from the other side of town. Always dropping in Saturday tea times, when Dad was trying to watch the football results. Answering questions for the other team when we were playing games at Christmas. Tea. Cake. Chocolate. Sparrows Nest cafe. Singing in choirs, raising money for this lovely church with Kirkley Kapers. There are countless little things.... As a young mother she had to brave strange pets such as mice, rats and stick-insects. “I pulled the bed covers back one day” she told me, “and there was this little mouse looking at me” There was the time she insisted on climbing up the river bank instead of taking the steps, and slid down covered in mud, washing her feet in the dogs water bowl. We were all giggling for hours. Nana & Grandad carried a little cat, and a hedgehog, all the way home from Kent on the back of Grandad’s motorcycle, right through London. Nana used to wave at Grandad through the window of the Windsor guards office. “He used to jump over the wall” she said proudly, “I love him really, but don’t tell him!” She was there for every occasion in our lives, from school plays, to special events, from the beginning, right until the end. Nana was wise. To her, life wasn’t about climbing mountains, topping the charts or amassing millions in the bank. It was always about us, her family. We are privileged because we were special to Nana, as she will always be to us. Kind, loving and generous, she devoted her life to us, and made ours the richer for it. Nana, you’ll be forever in our hearts. You lived a full and happy life, and you did it well. Speech from the church funeral service, by Jayne-Marie xxx