And So … Syd You are gone And not gone You leave Money for the kids Ornaments and pictures Memories and baubles Words and remains Of a life lived And more So many remembrances But More So much More Richer and deeper Undeniable as truth Indelible as the word Eternal as love You leave us Fragments To cherish Mother Lover Friend Daughter Wife and grandmother and great-grandmother You are not gone A College girl surrounded by beaux writing for The Daily Item supporting the Mets Go Mets! a war bride and homemaker dancing to Glenn Miller and Artie Shaw swaying along to Ella Fitzgerald giving the kids a ride to dance class, cheerleading and choir practice lighting the candle on a Friday writing people stories ordinary people you found the extra-ordinary in the ordinary eating ice-cream at Carvels and loving the cup cakes, chocolate-chip cookies and brownies crossing the Atlantic in the QM2 embracing new worlds of emails and screen photos driving around with pleasure sharing your life so freely making so many, many friends who love you and miss you raising four vibrant kids to be proud of See them now, Syd -- independent, questioning, resilient persistent, passionate, liberal generous, unselfish, communicators inquisitive, egalitarian, spiritual smiling, caring, loving Sound familiar, Syd? And when life turned smaller and sadder darker and greyer there were Ghanaian colours and tylapia to ease the silent phone calls - the loss of The Word And we all still loved you and tried to return a little of what you gave to us So long Syd Find your own peace No more pills or pain or tests or stress Say Hi to Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw and the Mets Light the candle on a Friday Still find the extraordinary in the ordinary And thanks for those bits You shared and gave Mother, storyteller, wife you shared yourself and lived a life And to quote someone You know so well ‘That’s wonderful’ with love and respect, Andy