Just being there - all I can do!

At 03.55 hrs, yesterday morning, Anne Sawyer passed away. For the vast majority of humanity it means very little but, to Bev and I and many of our friends it is a very sad occasion. Anne was Gadget's (Dennis) wife and soul-mate for the past forty years, we only coming into the mix when we moved to Dumpton in November 2000. We have been friends since day one - they attending many of our family gatherings and we theirs. That Anne is no longer with us leaves a massive void in our world, as it does for many others.
I finished work at 14.00 hrs, knowing that Den was coming round. We ended up in The Racing Greyhound for a couple of beers and a chat. Den needed some sleep, but he also needed to talk and I provided the ears to listen. We spoke of many things, past, present and future and were joined by Craig Sammells, which was a nice touch.

Anne, with Bev, at a BBQ in our garden. Happy memories of good times and a wonderful lady

Den has been swamped by messages of sympathy and support from far and wide - which is always good. Our couple of beers developed into several more, as they do, but didn't descend into the morose and self-pity that would have been entirely understandable. Instead we laughed about the good times, the happy events that we'd shared and the realisation of how precious time is as a commodity. Craig has been out of the loop for far too long - we will work at fixing this. It all ended up in the back garden of our bungalow - three of us as silly as sheep. Bev was a diamond - taxi service and deliverer of common sense (which was seriously needed at times) work was a casualty this morning. I did walk across to the factory, but only so I could fill in a holiday form and return to my bed. Small price to pay for being a mate, amongst mates, when the situation dictates.