Thanks to a Wonderful Mum

Nothing to do with goats, or any other of our four-legged or feathered friends this time, but a very special tribute to my wonderful mum Olive, who passed away last month.

She was special to all her family, and I never recall her having a bad word to say about anyone. My mum and dad (Fred, who left us a couple of years ago) made a lot of good friends during their lives, and they both gave them the same love and affection as they did to their family.

We had blue sky and bright sunshine for her funeral on a chilly February day, and it was lovely to see so many family and friends together to celebrate her life. Beautiful tributes were made by her sons Geoff and Mike, and grand daughter Laura at the ceremony, and many stories and laughs were shared at the gathering after - a truly fitting tribute to such a fun-loving person.

Unfortunately, thanks to dementia, the lady all of us knew and loved was taken away from us a few years ago. I'd like to say a special thanks to the staff and carers at the Beane River View care home in Hertford, who looked after this wonderful person for the last few years of her life. It's just a shame they didn't see the kind of person she really was. Hopefully they got a small appreciation of that, as many of them showed their faces at the cermony and wake to give their respects.

Although my mum and her family moved to Hertford from Wales when she was only a few months old, she always considered herself the daughter of a Welsh mining family from the Rhondda Valley. She kept in touch with family in South Wales all her life. That definitely played a part in my decision to move to South Wales last year, though I do regret that my mum was never well enough to appreciate that her son and wife had returned to her home.

Thanks to a very special mum and dad. I know you are both in a better place now, but I still wish you were here!