My Mum was a wonderful lady. Her friends described her as kind, thoughtful, loyal, brave, determined and courageous. As her son I would also describe her as a loving, caring and supportive mum who made many sacrifices for me when I was growing up.

One of my early memories is of the snowy winters we had. I remember my mum dragging me up and over the railway bridge on a wooden sledge to take me to St. Clements, my primary school. What great fun it was for me, and for the other children that we would often pick up along the way.

In 1991, my Mum and Dad took the huge decision to move to Belgium. This was the start of a brand-new chapter for us as a family and one that lasted over 25 years for my mum. She did find it hard at first but tried her best when it came to the language barrier. With French being the language of choice in our area, she always made the effort to engage with people in the shops and supermarkets in order to practise her French. However, with her British accent coming through and the locals sensing an opportunity to practice their own English, she always lost out.

Speaking of her language skills, I will always remember the first time that we drove back to the UK using the Eurotunnel. The signs for this would say ‘Tunnel Sous la Manche’, however mum read this as ‘Tunnel Sur la Manche’ which would mean ‘Tunnel over the Water’. I’m still not sure how that would be possible but it became a running joke between us on each subsequent journey.

As an avid footballer in my teens, my mum became my taxi driver. I recall many Sunday mornings throughout the winter where we would need to meet at the football club at 7am for an away game. Once there, mum would be wrapped up on the side lines supporting me or alternatively, the game would be called off and we would just have to drive all of the way back home. She didn’t seem to mind though and I can’t thank her enough for this.

My Mum loved to travel and visit different places. I know that one of her favourite places to go in Belgium was the tulip gardens where she could spend hours walking around the grounds with family and friends.

Our annual family holiday would be to Pissouri in Cyprus. Our first time being in 1986, with her last time being in 2010. She loved Cyprus and made many friends there. She was at her happiest whilst laying by the beach or enjoying Brandy Sours by the pool.
Another happy memory for me was when my Mum and I took a city break to Barcelona. I have very fond memories of that trip, touring the city by bus, finding nice places to eat, walking along the seafront and exploring galleries and museums. I really enjoyed spending time with her.

When I first joined the RAF, I found being away from my mum hard. However, I felt comforted when hearing her voice on the phone. Of course, being on an AC’s wage I had to reverse the call charges every time but she didn’t seem to mind! She would listen as I told her all about what I had been doing and I will be forever grateful for the support and encouragement she showed me throughout my career. I also have a big collection of the letters, emails and post cards we sent to each other while I was away on deployments. They are full of happy times of what we had both been doing. 

Over the years I remember her being a keen volunteer. This included volunteering at the British and Commonwealth Women’s Club of Brussels where she enjoyed hosting coffee mornings. She also volunteered as a classroom assistant at the British Primary School where one child referred to her as ‘Computer Linda’ as she supported the children with their IT skills. She was also a prominent member of St. Anthony’s Parish, and in particular the choir where she used to play the tambourine. Her love of singing was evident and she always looked forward to rehearsals during the week as well as the Sunday morning church service (when she wasn’t standing on the side lines watching me play football of course).

She always spoke fondly of her Tuesday lady’s lunchtime group in Tervuren. This was one of the highlights of her week and I’m sure that each lunch would have concluded with a dessert or a cake of some kind as she had such a sweet tooth (as do I, thanks to her).

In 2017, my mum moved back to the UK to spend more time with my grandma. It made me really happy when she then decided to move to Ipswich to be closer to myself and Sarah. We were able to enjoy days out, roast dinners and Christmas together, memories that I shall always hold dear. 

Thank you for everything you did for me mum. You really were kind, thoughtful, loyal, brave, determined, courageous and a wonderful mum. I will really miss you. I love you and I hope that I have made you proud.