Thinking of you on your Birthday Mum, lots of love Kieron

From whenever we can remember, Mum was always loving, always smiling, always encouraging and generous to a fault. She was a very special lady and brought warmth and happiness to everyone she met. She had an enduring sense of fun and a lovely captivating Irish smile. Mischievous even in her eighties you never knew what she would surprise you with and this wild, child like spirit, was one of the most endearing facets of her character. Wife, Mother, Sister and Grandmother she had the ability to make everyone feel unique and special in her company. She was always thoughtful of others and never, ever forgot to acknowledge and celebrate the important dates and milestones in her children’s and grandchildren’s lives. Born in Ballina, she grew up in a large and loving family and moved to London when she was a young woman just after the end of the war. She was born with a rebellious spirit, so loved the freedom and excitement of the big city where she lived the life of Riley surrounded by both her own and dad’s families in Islington. The many years we lived there seemed almost idyllic, despite it being in the heart of the city, and this was to a large extent the result of mum’s encouragement of us to lead happy and purposeful lives. In her latter years, after Dad passed away, Mum pushed herself to stay positive and went out of her way to find new friends to socialise with in her community. She travelled, relaxed, and remained happy despite her daily battle with the symptoms of her breathing problems. In her last few years with slowly failing health we realised that despite her ongoing good humour and determination to be as independent as possible she needed to be closer to us on a daily basis and in an environment in which she could feel safe and secure yet still maintain as much independence as possible. Her move to her new home in Kingston really was one of the best moves she ever made. It gave her a new lease of life and she remarked on several occasions how she wished she’d made the move earlier and how happy she was in her new home. In all she spent two happy years in her new home soaking up the sun in its beautiful gardens and socialising with her new found friends, telling stories about their colourful lives. We all saw so much more of her in her last few years so realised when she went into hospital for the last time just before Christmas how much of a battle she was fighting against her terrible lung disease. In the end the constant daily battle against the disease just proved too much and mum passed away peacefully in Kingston Hospital on 29 February surrounded by her much loved family. Rest in Peace Mum, we’ll always love you and shall never forget you. You have done all that you could do here and now your wild spirit is free to fly.

You can shed tears that she is gone Or you can smile because she has lived You can close your eyes and pray that she will come back Or you can open your eyes and see all that she has left Your heart can be empty because you can't see her Or you can be full of the love that you shared You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday You can remember her and only that she is gone Or you can cherish her memory and let it live on You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back Or you can do what she would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.