This week has seen the sad passing of two lovely ladies, both in the prime of their lives and well before their time.
Susan Taylor
Susan Taylor was the lady who died while swimming the Channel last weekend to raise money for the Rainbows Hospice in Leicesteshire. She was the friend of a friend of mine and he was very shocked at the news. Apparantly she was a lovely lady, very loyal and committed to her charities. She was also very kind, and a lot of fun. Her death while doing something to help others seems so bizarre and unfair – at the young age of 34, she leaves her parents and siblings, and her boyfriend.
I’m just awestruck at her commitment to her causes. We can’t all be heroes and swim the channel or do sponsored runs or walks, or even afford to make significant donations to charities. But however little you can afford, I’m sure that it would be appreciated by the Rainbows Hospice, so please make a donation to Susan’s cause http://tinyurl.com/oet2n8c in tribute to her memory and her very kind heart.
My cousin Clare
My cousin sadly passed away this week after a long fight with leukaemia, at the age of 48. She leaves her husband, two children, her mother, a sister and two brothers and their families. She also leaves several aunts and uncles and, at the last count, 25 cousins on her father’s side (we’re a big family) and dozens of second cousins.
I didn’t know Clare very well. Coming from a big family and living hundreds of miles apart, we rarely saw each other once we’d all grown up. But I know she was a lovely, kind lady who was much loved by her close family and will be very sadly missed by them. I know her mother – my aunt – will be broken hearted to be burying her child.
I sometimes just don’t understand why the universe takes such lovely people from us too early in their lives. There’s nothing much any of us can do in these very sad circumstances but to pay tribute – whether they’re friends or family or even complete strangers.
Either way it puts our own day to day problems into perspective and helps us to appreciate the wondeful gift of life and the simple pleasures we take for granted every day.
I hope that Clare and Susan will both rest in peace and send my deepest sympathies to their families and loved ones at this very sad time.
Marie