2 Comments

1. 

   Jenny Hill on 7th May 2024 at 9:12 am

   Angie
   Hello there. I’m Jenny, one of Angie’s longest standing friends, and I’m sorry not to be with you today.
   I feel like I’ve known Angie all my life, and yet it can’t be so as she was born in India. Janet will be able to tell you more about that than I can. We certainly grew up together. That was in Larne, on the coast of Co.Antrim. We went to Larne Grammar, both prep and senior school, and we were part of a group of 6 or 7 friends who spent loads of time with each other from when we were 4 or 5 through into our teens.
   I remember more of what we did socially than what went on at school. We were often at the house of twins Daphne and Rosemary. We had the run of a huge garden, complete with permission to eat gooseberries, raspberries, peas, or anything else we could find, straight from the bush. We climbed trees. There was table tennis in the loft over the garage, and card playing round the kitchen table – but never for money. Even in the height of summer Angie, in her mini skirt, would be in a thick woolly jumper, and protesting she wasn’t warm at all. The twins’ Mum often took up to 6 of us (!) in the family car to the beach at Ballygally 5 miles away. Reversing to park was part of the procedure, when she would cry “Heads” and we all had to duck down in the back seat. We had a lot of fun together.
   Amongst the succession of birthday parties Angie’s was always a favourite. Her Dad ran Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy films for us, with himself and the projector in the front hall, and us sitting on the floor in the front room. There was always a warm welcome from Angie’s Mum and Dad. In my teens I could pop round there uninvited of an evening. In the summer of 1968, while we were waiting for our A Level results, 4 of us went Youth Hosteling in the Wicklow mountains, part walking, part hitching, and ended up with a week in a caravan on the coast at Arklow with Angie’s parents. I don’t know how we all fitted in.
   Next stop for both Angie and me was the University of Ulster, she to do her Social Science degree. For a year I was in digs down the road from her attic flat and spent lots of time there. Angie was artistically inclined, and she gave me materials to do my first ever post school ‘painting’, for which I’d no talent at all. There was a memorable stay over party where Angie, our friend Rosie and myself slept head to feet to head in a not very large double bed!

   After uni we both ended up in England, visited regularly, and saw each other through our 20 something ups and downs. I was in London, Angie in her high rise block in Dudley – 11th floor, I think. She was part of a group of friends who holidayed and organised events together. Legging the tunnel on the Dudley Canal was the sort of thing! Over time this evolved into our meeting up for a posh lunch, often at a hotel near Bicester Shopping Village, about half way between her in Stourbridge and me in Hertfordshire.
   Our Larne group all reached 60 across 9 months in 1960/61, and five of us – Angie, the twins, our friend Les and myself, decided to meet up for a week of self-catering each year. We called ourselves Ochaye in honour of our Irish roots. We went to Portugal, then various places in England and Wales. It’s been great fun. For as long as she could Angie enjoyed being the driver on our day trips. I know how important her car was to her, and what a wrench it was having to stop driving. Though not involved with much shopping or cooking, she was an ace table layer and clearer. She had a great sense of humour, and her wonderful, unexpectedly loud, tinkling laugh always had the rest of us in stitches. When we arrived anywhere Angie had an interesting capacity to claim the biggest room with her suitcase while the rest of us were still talking about it. We never could quite work out how!
   So Angie the person. Still, gentle, quiet, thoughtful, determined, stubborn, low key and at the same time quite a presence. All of these I associate with her. When I spoke to her, whether about something important or inconsequential, her response would come in her own good time – and it was usually worth waiting for. She was a faithful and loyal friend. When one of us was bedbound for several weeks as a teenager, Angie visited every day, bringing things to read, and just quietly keeping her company.
   For those of us who grew up with Angie, it’s the end of an era. She was a special friend to me across many decades. I’ll think of her with love and fondness, and plenty of great memories. And I’ll certainly miss that laugh.

   Jenny

   Reply
2. 

   Rosemary Shorthose on 8th May 2024 at 8:18 am

   Dear Angie,  when I recall how our friendship began, it was over forty years ago, when I joined your social work team in Halesowen in 1982.

   You very quickly gave me emotional support, and we soon became good friends. Angie eased my path into the team, she had a rye sense of humour and was well respected by her colleagues.  This period was prior to her engagement to Paul and as our friendship developed,  I witnessed Angie’s excitement following Paul’s proposal and her plans for their wedding.
   I was privileged to attend Angie and Paul’s wedding, meeting Angie’s parents and her sister Janet, I became a close family friend.

   Peter arrived in their first year and it was a pleasure to witness their devotion to parenting, with Anna’s arrival 2 years later completing the family but not forgetting Tuppence the predictable family cat.

   Our lives were busy with family and work, however, Angie and I remained connected as good friends, it was during this period that the couple provided me with refuge in their home following my marriage breakup. Angie’s loyalty, kindness, and both being supportive, gave me normality, Angie, grounded with her humor. demonstrated her skills and great rapport with Peter and Anna, a pleasure to observe.

   Our families and work, meant less time together especially my move away from the area. But Angie visited me in Leicester and our quality time together further cemented our friendship. I invited Angie to join my established walking group of ten friends, we met several times a year in many different locations and Angie joined us . This proved beneficial, enjoying the countryside and coast. Angie loved the camaraderie of ten women, all pulling together, cooking, humour and roles to share. I recall Angie taking it upon herself to clean not only her walking boots but everyone’s and lining them up for inspection.

   It was on one holiday that it became apparent that Angie memory was failing her, and sadly the acceleration over a few years meant she was not comfortable being away from her home. It was a huge sadness to me when I recognised on one of my visit that her recognition was affected.

   The final phase of Angie’s life was handled with incredible care and commitment by Paul and the family. My final farewell was very sad. I was immensely grateful to have had Angie as my friend.

   Rest in peace Angie, Love Rosemary x

   Reply