It was a good day, all in all.
The church, although not entirely full, was quite busy- lots of faces which Maureen knew, but which I never. The local girl guides came as well- just for the service- and were all dressed in their uniforms which brought a lot of colour to the building, and their voices were lovely when we sang; it lifted the whole place.
The vicar said some lovely things, it was obvious he knew Queenie well. I never realised her name is really Elizabeth- hence the nick name. He said that she had helped at the girl guides for years, and that is why they all came. They had also made pictures of her, which hung all around the church. They were all so beautiful; I did have tears in my eyes when I looked at them- I never knew that Queenie was so loved.
He then talked about the sun, how it controls what we do, and how we feel each day. He said that Queenie was like the sun; she bought light in to our lives, and helped us to feel better about ourselves. When I thought about his words, it set me off again. I do hope that I will be remembered like this.
I was so proud of Maureen- she did so well. As I mentioned before, she really went in with the intentions of celebrating Queenies life, not being sad she is gone; she did this with style and with her head held high. I am so proud to call her my partner.
Although it is a shame that Queenie is gone, I am so pleased that she is not suffering anymore. She was obviously an incredible lady, and I just wish I took the time to know her better.
We then went out into the church yard, to bury her. This was especially tough, and I found it very hard to stop the tears rolling down. I think at one stage I even saw the vicar have tears in his eyes- the wind soon blew them away again though.
Afterwards,we all went back to the bungalow, which is only a 10 minute walk away. The caterers did us well, and there was some lovely food there. Ralph came, as well as Dai and Valentine, and Alma. I spotted Roy the engineer as well. He lived at Shirwell, and also knew her. It was lovely to see him again! It started raining a bit when I lit the BBQ, but it did not spoil anything. We simply popped our umbrellas up and kept on talking and cooking.
Patrick turned up later, and he looked ill. I took him outside and asked if he was alright; he said he and his girlfriend had split up, and that she had banned him from seeing the children. He had been sleeping in a field, and had to hitch hike up from Plymouth- that is why he was so late. He did look sorry for himself, so I gave him a big hug, and said he can stay if he wants.
Maureen was true to her word; it did turn into a celebration. Dai brought his keyboard/ piano up, and he played whilst Valentine sang us songs, which we all sang and danced too. We ate and drunk and danced until late in to the night! As I say, I did not know Queenie that well, but I am sure she would have loved this send off.
Gradually people went one by one, and it was just left with us lot, so we got out the air mattresses, and every stayed up the bungalow. There was lots of snoring and noises throughout the night, but we all got up this morning, and I cooked us bacon for breakfast. I think it was the most Patrick had eaten for days. Aftewards, we all tidied up- even with all of us there, it still took 4 hours. When it was all done, we called a taxi and came home.
So Queenie is now fully gone. Maureen has gone off for an early night, and I do not think I will be that far behind her. Patrick is sleeping on the settee- he is impressed by the Mac! I shall talk to him tomorrow about his plans.
Good bye Queenie. We shall all miss you.
Yours sincerely
Raymond Williams
Raymond Williams's Diary 