How to sum up the life of a wonderful person, in just one page? It’s an impossible task, and I feel so inadequate to even attempt it. So I’m going to make it easy on myself and, with one exception, just write about the years that I knew my beloved wife, Linda. I think Linda would have agreed that her childhood was an unremarkable and uneventful one, full of the ups and downs that growing up involves; however in 1977 something happened that was to change her life forever. In the Easter of that year, Linda and all of her immediate family were staying together for the holiday weekend. In the early hours of one morning a fire broke out whilst everyone was asleep. Although Linda and some members of her family escaped, tragically her father did not, and her youngest sister was to die the next day, as a result of her injuries. As if to emphasise how cruel life can be, not a year later, the flat on the floor below Linda’s one also caught fire, and again she had to be rescued. Neither of these fires were her fault – she was just the innocent victim of them. I think perhaps, that at that moment in her life Linda realised what we often forget – that life can, for some, be oh so short. So I believe she determined, in that case, to lead a good life, but also as importantly, a happy one! So it was in 1978 that this determined, and fun loving person came into my life. I think I’m quite lucky, in that I’m aware of what have been the pivotal moments in my life. On what I thought was going to be a routine day in the office, out of the blue, Linda walked into my life. She was to me, then and forever after, stunningly beautiful, and as I was lucky to find out later, an even more beautiful person inside! It was the private person, the one most people never saw, that I fell hopelessly and completely in love with. We got engaged in 1979, and married, on a wonderful day in 1980. So the next 25 years rushed by – having three daughters made it pass by, oh so quickly. We both worked at various places and made many good friends along the way, some who sadly, have also passed on. Linda took up running in her spare time, and joined a wonderful local group – The Reebok Running Sisters. So, as a family, we spent many happy days, around the country watching Linda taking part in races, mainly 10K’s to start with, then a half marathon, and finally the big one - The London Marathon ! However, in another twist of fate, Linda was to be dealt a cruel blow, yet again. Part way round the course she suffered an injury, and ended up in hospital having surgery, never having completed the race……and that was then, the end of running for her. After so many months of training and the early morning 20 mile runs, it was so sad. There was no consolation. Linda’s determination however hadn’t gone away. If she couldn’t run, she decided she would do something else, perhaps more useful, in her spare time – so she started helping out at the Citizen’s Advice Bureau, one day per week. She also started studying Social Sciences with the Open University, and was well on her way to getting her degree. So…25 years have passed, and it is the year of our Silver Wedding Anniversary. What should have been a happy year had a cloud hanging over it! Linda’s speech had become slightly slurred, and she had a slight weakness in one hand. If her GP knew then what was wrong with her, he didn’t say. She joined the long NHS waiting list for various tests and scans…and waited for the results. We flew out to Madeira, for our anniversary, and tried not to think about her illness too much. For once in our lives our roles were reversed and I was being the optimistic one! Linda, however was not, and had a long list of illnesses that it might be – top of the horror list was Motor Neurone Disease. I tried to be reassuring, saying that with a 1 in 50,000 chance of getting it, she shouldn’t worry about that one – how wrong can you be! So on a September day I’ll never forget, we sat in front of the Consultant, to hear him tell Linda that she had MND, and that her life expectancy was now about 2 years – in fact he was being optimistic, as Linda had the worse form of MND, where life expectancy was only around 6 months! I won’t describe here, how I felt at that moment, because this page is not about me – it’s about Linda. There were lots of tears, and months of coming to terms with what was happening to her. She once said that, as a person with a fatal illness she “didn’t feel part of the normal world anymore”. The thing that worried her most was the thought about how much sadness her death would cause her family – concerned about others, and not herself, as usual! In the end, that old determination came back. She was determined to live as normal a life as possible, for as long as possible. As the paralysis caused by the MND worsened, it became harder for Linda to do anything. One problem on the horizon was her next Open University exam, however the OU arranged for her to take the exam at home, under their supervision. With the extra time allowed for her disability, a 2 hour exam turned into a 5 hour marathon, as she battled to write, using an arm that she could hardly move and a pen she had trouble holding. I have never seen such courage and determination, as minute by minute she fought on and tried to finish the paper….which she did! In May of 2006 we had one last family holiday – another cruise. P & O had started offering not only to marry people at sea, but also perform Renewal of Marriage Vows ceremonies. I hesitated to mention it, because, by this time, Linda could hardly speak at all, and was relying on written notes or a portable speech synthesiser, however I found out that she also wanted to renew our vows – it was only the speech problem, that was holding her back from mentioning it. With the help of the P & O crew we rewrote the words of the ceremony, so that all Linda had to say was one word at the end, which, of course, she managed. This was a day of happiness and sadness, in equal measure! Aided by good friends, Linda carried on working until only 6 weeks before her death. By this time she could hardly move, and couldn’t eat, drink, speak, and finally breathe. With the help of a ventilator, Linda fought to the bitter end to hold on to life, and to stay with the family she loved so much. Linda believed that life was too precious to waste. She was a beautiful, kind and compassionate person; a most remarkable human being. Our lives have been enriched by knowing her, but are oh so much sadder for losing her. Linda – I miss you every minute, of every hour, of every day! Your devoted husband - Phil xxxxx