My Leaving "Do"!

Just thought you'd like a few pics of my leaving "Do" from my Counselling Agency.

I was amazed at the number of people who came - some people will do anything for free food!!! - but I was genuinely touched by the numbers of those who turned up.

Many of these social events prove to be rare occasions of frivolity in an otherwise fairly stressful working environment. When we do get together, we usually all contribute to the food, and over the years, John's Coronation Chicken has become a firm favourite . Nobody bothers to ask me what I'm bringing anymore - just as long as I come with a trayload of his chicken! I do give him the credit every time, but somehow this event became a lot to do with chicken in various forms! My mate Sally even made me a tissue paper chicken as a memento! Sally is also a brilliant poetess, and wrote "An Ode to Pat", which she read out, and then presented me with a framed copy of the poem.

I was also given a beautiful bouquet, and a very nice cheque, which I am spending on cardmaking equipment - something for me to do in all this free time I'll have, you understand!

My thanks to all who made it a special time, and I am currently trying to have 2 weeks off before formally starting at Bible Cafe as Team Leader

Love to you all

A day we hoped would never come...

For those who could not be there, today was Meg’s funeral. 273 people came to express their deep respect for a lady who was, quite simply, unique. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a funeral quite like this one – and I’ve been to a few – where the sense of the person who has gone has somehow felt so present. It was not in a scary or eerie way – there were just things that were done in the preparation for the day, as well as during and after the service, that had many of us quietly smiling, “Meg would have liked that”. The flowers were beautiful – lots of soft blues, creams and deep pinks; roses, freesias and delphiniums dominated the colours and scents of the day.

But above it all was this huge sense of just how much one life, sold out for God, in an incredible gentle way, can, and has, affected hundreds. This is no exaggeration, for the ripples of Meg’s life and legacy will continue in the lives of many.

It was a day that we had hoped would never come – at least, not for us. Not for Meg, though - she’s having a ball. However, I believe her son Neil, in an amazing tribute, summed it up so wonderfully. He said that there are some people in life who have completed all that God asked them to do, and so He calls them home. What a memorial – someone who did EVERTHING God asked them to do.

Pat’s Thought for the Day

When some people greet you, they might call you “love” or “darling”. Meg always called people “treasure”. She valued each one, and treasured every moment spent with each one. Let’s never waste moments spent with those we love –they are far too valuable

Farewell, Meg

A very special friend passed away early this morning, and my prayers and thoughts go out to her wonderful husband, Alan, and to their 3 very special children. Heaven's incredible gain today cannot diminish the huge sense of loss we feel at her passing.

My own words are hopelessly inadequate, and quite raw right now, but this poem became vey precious to me when my own beloved Dad died 14 years ago.

It's by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852), and I have changed the original words of "his" in the poem to read "her"

The Scent of the Roses

Farewell! but whenever you welcome the hour

Which awakens the night-song of mirth in your bow'r,

Then think of the friend who once welcom'd it too,

And forgot (her) own grief to be happy with you.

(Her) griefs may return, not a hope may remain,

Of the few that have brighten'd (her) pathway of pain,

But (she) ne'er will forget (her) short vision that threw

Its enchantment around (her), while ling'ring with you.

And still on that evening, when pleasure fills up

To the highest top sparkle each heart and each cup,

Where'er my path lies, be it gloomy or bright,

My soul, happy friends! shall be with you that night;

Shall join in your revels, your sports and your wiles,

And return to me, beaming all o'er with your smiles! --

Too blest, if it tells me, that, 'mid the gay cheer,

Some kind voice had murmur'd, I wish (she) were here!

Let Fate do her worst, there are relics of joy,

Bright dreams of the past, which she cannot destroy;

Which come, in the night-time of sorrow and care,

And bring back the features that joy used to wear.

Long, long be my heart with such memories fill'd!

Like the vase in which roses have once been distill'd --

You may break, you may shatter the vase if you will,

But the scent of the roses will hang round it still.