Goodbye

UNDER the wide and starry sky
Dig the grave and let me lie:
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.

This be the verse you 'grave for me:
Here he lies where he long'd to be;
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
And the hunter home from the hill
RLS.

A misty grey day to say goodbye to a very dear friend.

I have blipped her a number of times, several during this last year when she was suddenly faced with the news that she didn't have much more time:

Looking forward, at the New Year
Cordial, in May
Celebratory, in June
Indomitable, in October.

"Bucket lists," she memorably scoffed, "are for people who have never lived real lives. "

But she, who filled each unforgiving minute, had a bucket list nonetheless - of places to revisit and presents to give, and sisters and friends she wished to bid farewell.

A week ago she came back exhausted from the Netherlands, her last goodbyes said, her last presents given, her last energy expended.

And that was that.

Rest in peace Tricia - you deserve it. You haven't stopped rushing about for the last eighty four years. And you will be so fondly remembered by so very many people.