Given that the suffering is now over, it is fitting to remember Pam for the vibrant, good-natured and immensely funny person that she was.  We all met Pam from different angles and at different periods in time.  I grew up with her and have those intimate, deep family memories of a Sister who was very close to me, special and someone I looked up to, learned from and loved. She was seven years older than me and left home to go to teacher training college when I was 11, but we still maintained and strengthened a close connection in our adult lives. She was always an incredibly kind sister to me, I think I was essentially a living doll for her when I was born!  She always found plenty to talk to me about even in her teenage years. One clear memory I have was when we were on holiday one summer she refused to go out with us one day and Dad left her in charge of the roast that he left in the oven.  Needless to say this never happened and it completely burned, resulting in one frustrated Father for sure!  She led me down the pathway to attend scripture classes in church not something I have exactly continued with but this is the power of an influential sister!  I remember her shopping trip to Boots chemist to buy things to take with her to Stockwell, it’s odd which memories stick.  One of my first memories of her in college was meeting Maggie and Hilary when I first visited her, and I was introduced to tinned tomatoes on toast for the first time. It's strange what memories persist.  I lived with her and Trevor during my third year in University when I was working at Guys Hospital Poisons Unit and New Cross hospital.  We certainly used this time to connect as adults together, and enjoy common interests. I remember she bought me dry slope ski lessons and paid for me to go skiing with her and Trevor for the very first time, with a kindness to embrace me in things she loved which I won’t forget.  When I used to visit when I was back in college she would always send me back with cooked meals which were always welcome. When I left to live in the United States we still maintained a great connection, and my return trips always involved our shared love of theatre, opera, galleries, museums and restaurant visits.  It was something I cherished doing with her which became easier as my boys grew, but even when they were small we did what we could together. We also shared a love of walking which I know she embraced with friends and family right up to her last days.   Our great plan was to do the coast to coast walk across England in June 2018. She gave me the whole series of maps for Christmas and it became a serious plan which we were so excited about. Sadly this was derailed due to my own health problems that year and the one after, and by 2020 the pandemic resulted in a further postponement.  After that point with Pam’s declining health, it was obvious this would be an unfulfilled dream, something I feel incredibly sad about.  In spite of everything I’m grateful the pandemic restrictions lifted enough that I could visit her over the last six months of her life.  Her disease was brutal, but my memories of her I hope will not be of the end, but that for 65 of her 67 years she lived a full and happy life and hopefully that was enough.  I’m heartbroken that it wasn’t more - I had so looked forward to many more adventures in old age that freedom from the responsibilities of raising young children would have brought, but I’m lucky and grateful for the times we did have.  


Pam leaves all of us with the memories of what a special person she was - and we are are all the richer for having had her in our lives.