Sunset from Hill House, Mount Helen. February 2024

Friday, April 01, 2016

A difficult week

This has turned out to be quite a difficult week

We still haven't found Marlo. I'm not really expecting to now. I think if he was going to come home he would have done so by now, and I have looked pretty much everywhere I can think of where a dead or injured cat might be.

Yesterday was my last official day at Sheffield Hallam.  The Builder and I headed into Sheffield by bus and met a number of people for lunch at The Banker's Draft in the Sheffield city centre.  Most of the people that I have regularly had lunch or spent lunchtime with while I have been at SHU joined us, including some people who have left, some who were on holiday for the Easter break, some who had to go back to work, and Tabitha, Freyja, Cally and Flynn. It was by no means a sad lunch. I rather enjoyed it.  I didn't go into any SHU buildings - I am intending to go in for a retirement afternoon tea (not mine, I hasten to add!) next Tuesday so will get an opportunity to say a final goodbye then.  I was a bit wistful this morning when I double checked to see if my @ shu email address had been closed and found that it had (I knew it would be really; I've had any number of emails warning me that it would terminate at the end of yesterday).  I think wistful is probably the best way to describe my feelings about the end of my association with SHU. The end of an era and worthy of note.

Then yesterday evening we had news that our friend Gill had died.  We have been waiting for the news.  She has gone downhill very quickly since we saw her at the beginning of last month.  

Gill was very kind to Ross, Tabitha, Austin, Freyja and me when we first came to Sheffield.  She gave me this tree as a decoration for our first, temporary home when we didn't really own anything very much.

It was only the height of a supermarket pot plant when it came to me
It's grown a bit!
She sourced spare bedding and kitchen odds and ends for us.

For several years she and I would regularly go to the Sunday evening pub quiz at the Rising Sun in Ranmoor. 

She introduced us to people, places and things.

Our early life in Sheffield would have been very different had it not been for Gill's kindness.

We didn't see much of each other once The Builder and I moved to Tupton. She and Peter lived far on the other side of Sheffield and we weren't conveniently located any more. But I am glad we saw her at the beginning of March and I am very sorry that our proposed luncheon at the beginning of May will now not be able to happen.

Vale Gill.  And thank you.

Gill and me, Nether Green 2002

Gill, Tupton 2009

Gill and her mum, Forge Dam 2016





No comments:

Post a Comment