Mother had a very long and mainly happy life although it was not without its difficulties. She caught scarlet fever at the age of 5 which was very serious in those days and afterwards she was regarded as the delicate one of the family. She proved them wrong by outliving her brothers by decades! She was evacuated during the war and spent her final years at school working in churchyards and corridors, often by herself. She spent a year at university but I think that she enjoyed life too much, discovered boys  and didn’t worry too much about studying.
Returning to London, she started work in a lab at the GEC and attempted to continue with a degree course but it was too much.  The family home was a hub of social activity – with three older brothers in the forces the house was full of their friends when they were on leave and one of the favourite occupations was singing round the piano.  She met our father at work and they married in 1946, enjoying more than 70 years of married life. Life was hard to begin with, with very little money but they managed to save enough for the deposit on 98 Charlton Road, moving in 1952, and spending the rest of their lives there.
Our youngest brother always had health problems and she fought hard on his behalf to support him throughout his life.  She went back to college when I was 14, training to be a teacher, and then worked for 20 years at Charlton Manor where we all began our education. The support she had given Andrew equipped her very well to teach and she had a very successful career teaching reception classes.  She also enjoyed travelling – we spent many happy summers camping all over Europe and she always seemed to attract the other children at the campsite, playing cards with them or telling them stories. She and Dad were always active in the Labour party, wanting a fair society for everyone.  I remember her helping at the annual pensioners’ party when she was a pensioner herself!
After she and Dad retired, they had many happy holidays together and after Dad died, she used to come to Lanzarote with us for six months of the year.  She made new friends there and everyone used to watch out for her.  In recent years, she spent a lot of time reminiscing about her life and we heard many stories of her youthful adventures and trips to see family in Scotland – she was very proud of her Scottish heritage. Some of the family recorded conversations so we are lucky enough to have some enduring memories of her.I would like to thank Karin, Michael and Janice who looked after her so well for the last few years.
Mother was not afraid of dying – life was increasing difficult for her and she had had enough.  I would like to finish with some lines from a poem by Pablo Neruda which convey what she was thinking.
“I want you to live while I wait for you, asleep.
I want those I loved to go on living and flourishing.”
In other words, she wouldn’t want us to be sad but to remember and celebrate her life and to carry on enjoying our own lives.