Memorial

It's so sad to discover that someone you think you knew turns out to be someone you hardly knew at all.

Today I went to the memorial service for one of my book group who had a late diagnosis of terminal cancer at the beginning of September and who died two days after Christmas.
To say that the suddenness of it all was a monumental shock is an understatement.

We were members of the same book group for nearly 30 years, meeting about 10-12 times a year, and I did think I knew her.

I knew her as being very well read, incisive and able in her in -depth discussion of the book we had to read.
She was always cheerful and welcoming and a great baker of mouth watering cakes.

I also realised that she had many interests, but not as many as I discovered today.
She had a great love of the outdoors and an amazing ability to be both happy and realxed while entertaining hordes of people.

Her family, friends, and work colleagues in her teaching profession with deaf children all stood and gave such glowing tributes to her which were genuine and heartfelt that I am ashamed that I never got to know her better.

Although there were tears at the service, there was laughter too.
I just wish she had been able to see how important she was in the lives of so many people and how much we will miss her.