The Memorial for Shirley

It gave me a strange feeling stepping into a Catholic Church again, the smell of incense and polish and stone and candles and flowers taking me right back to my childhood.  It was an odd mixture of feelings - some of them happy of course, memories of my parents and siblings when we were all young.

And thinking about Shirley took me back to our shared Nabbs childhood - see photo above - and also to weekends I spent with her and her family when I was a student in my first year at Newcastle Uni, and Uncle Freddy worked for the Forestry in Northumberland.  I think I talked about that in a previous blog.

And it was great meeting up with the cousins and some of their children after a long time...   but how quickly time goes and how short our lives are now.

Shirley and George had a long and happy marriage, which is wonderful.  Yet, of course, it means that when one partner goes, the other loses, as George said their best friend.

That hits close to home for the Captain and me, given our age.

There was no mass, which was a relief (for me), it was a Memorial.  The older of her two brothers gave us a small overview of her life, and somehow managed to get through it with only the minimal of faltering.  Bravely done.

The picture George chose for the Order of Service was Shirley on her wedding day, looking so lovely.  I think she would have been very happy with his choice.

And Scarborough still looks like a prosperous little seaside town.  

What else did we do while 'oop North?  We met up with the York contingent midway for lunch at a nice pub - a carvery.  We saw Jen and Kathryn for coffee - they came to us. We drove over the Snake to visit the family at Marple - young Anna - looking lovelier than ever - was there which was a nice surprise.  And on our last day we had a veggie feast round at Jen's - great way to end our visit.  

Broomhill now has a green wall - which seems an excellent idea.

The hope for Shirley is that she now sleeps safe in "the everlasting arms", safe in Jehovah's memory, every hair of her head numbered, and that she has such a wonderful awakening ahead of her when the time comes for the resurrection.  She will see this lovely earth and those she loves once again. But this time it will be with the prospect of living on it forever.

Here is a beautiful promise from Revelation, the last book of the Bible:

With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.” -  Revelation 21:3,4

All the sadness we live with now will be gone when Shirley next open her eyes - gone for good, never to return.