I’m writing this on your birthday. I can’t believe you’re gone. So many times every day I go to tell you something, ask you how to do something, send you a funny picture to make you smile. Every time reality asserts itself is a jolt, a fresh pain, a new wound.
I adored and idolised you. There was nothing you couldn’t do. (Maybe maths, but even that you figured out through stubborn refusal to be beaten.) I wanted to be just like you when I grew up. Not sure I hit that mark, but I can keep trying.
You gave me a safe and happy childhood, you went without food so I could eat, you made clothes out of curtains, you welcomed my friends and ferried us about and cared about us all as teens, you made my wedding dress and catered my wedding, you helped raise my babies.
In my lifetime you learned to drive, you built your own business, you got your degree, you studied and excelled. You were a force. A wonder. Strong and clever, funny, compassionate, brilliant in so many ways.
I miss you a hundred times a day.
Susanne Alway
09/06/2025
