My Aunty Doreen, my mam’s sister, was always a constant presence in my life and I loved her enormously.
I have many many memories of my Aunty Doreen. My oldest memory is of her holding my hand walking down Walker Road. I was wearing a lilac coat which she’d got me at a jumble sale. I would have been about 4, at which time she would also have had 4 children of her own.
Another early memory is of me at a similar age sitting on the stairs whilst she cleaned and hoovered someone’s hall.
I would go to her when sick and off school and when I was a bit older, I stayed at weekends, hanging out with my cousins, enjoying many a late-night horror film and huge Sunday dinners in her busy house full of activity.
On the day my dad died, I remember my Aunty Doreen rushing through our front door past me to get to my mam. Again, she was just always present for the people she loved. From the day my mam was diagnosed with cancer and on the day she died, my Aunty Doreen was there providing emotional and physical support to Matthew and I.
When I had Josh about a year after my mam died, she would shop in the Grainger Markets for me, then get 2 buses to bring a trolley full of vegetables to me along with homemade veggie stock and portions of pureed veg for Josh.
What I am trying to demonstrate is that she was a constant, always available, reliable, thoughtful and insightful woman. She was also funny, honest, generous, brave and bold and her door was always open. I shall miss the reassurance of knowing she is always here for me, the reassurance of unconditional love and the connection to our family history.
I am so grateful to have had her in my life and I will miss her enormously.
Sending love to my cousins
Jacqueline
Jacqueline Mullen
08/12/2025
