My Jim –where to begin to talk about this man? He was the kindest, warmest, wittiest, nicest, bravest person anyone could know and had a huge heart, and if he was your friend, he was your best one. All who met him couldn’t help but be enthralled by his capacity to overcome the cards life had dealt him always with the happiest of ready smiles and his beautiful twinkly eyes which somehow melted all the ladies hearts. I am so very proud and privileged to have shared 25 years of life with him. He took me on when I gate-crashed his calm, peaceful life and didn’t give him a choice, I was here and wasn’t going to let him go, and he gave me a wonderful life, though I sometimes think he wondered what on earth he had done! We were chalk and cheese really. I am hot headed and short tempered, he was the epitome of calm and patience, but my goodness it worked for us. As well as me, he embraced my sons as if they were his own and he was so proud of their achievements and the goals they reached. He was always there for all of us and as the wives and grandchildren joined our family he wrapped his loving arms around them too. I know all my family, along with his own lovely brothers and their families, thought him special and loved him to bits.
We had wonderful times together and some not so wonderful when illness took him back into hospital yet again, over and over which caused us great stress and worry but his strength, love of life and determination to not give in always gave him the ability to dig deep and come home where he knew I was waiting for him. He fought with everything he had to stay with us on each occasion but I had always told him he couldn’t go until I said he could anyway and he always seemed to listen to me! But this time the hill was just too big to climb and his weary, battered body said ‘enough is enough, I need to fly free now’.
So rest now my lovely man, free at last from all the pain you endured over the years without complaint and know that my love goes with you. At the moment I am lost without you in my life and our little home feels so empty, but I have walls full of your beautiful paintings, a lifetime of memories and a heart full of love which is bursting with pride for the man you were and I am so thankful that you took a chance on me and I was the one you chose to love. I will carry you with me always.
LINDA XXXX