A tribute to Great Auntie Oonagh

I would have loved Alice to have met her Great Aunt Oonagh and am so sorry that didn't happen. Great Auntie Oonagh really was a great auntie and I have very happy memories of her kindness.

Unable to get back for the funeral service, Alice and I tried to go to light a candle at the cathedral, but it was still being jazzed up for the Pope's visit in July and the local catholic church was locked, so we watched the sun go down from the end of the road and said a little prayer.


Favourite Auntie Oonagh memories:
1. She opened her Brightlingsea house to my church youth group for a weekend away, back in the day. Not that there was much likelihood of drunken disorderliness, but it was kind of her to take the risk.
2. At age 7, it was very important to me that my Great Aunt Rose stop giving me liquorice allsorts and start giving me confectionery that I liked. Auntie Oonagh's famous tact and advice was called for, received, acted upon and I became the happy recipient of Dairy Milk. Funnily enough, I love liquorice now (although I may not be spelling it correctly) but I was very grateful at the time. The advice was that we tell Auntie Rose that I had over-indulged in the allsort, to the extend that they made me feel "quite ill". It worked a treat.
3. Her humouring my 9 year old self whistling the tune to the Lambeth Walk after a trip to see "Me and My Girl" all the way along the 18 or so stops along the District line to Upminster. "Listen, I can whistle while I'm breathing in, as well".
4. My own parents stopped speaking to me at two parties at Parkstone Avenue, when I told a certain couple that their engagement present had originally been a 21st birthday present gift for someone else and on another occasion thanked Auntie Catherine for her Christmas gift with the words. "I've got one of those already". Auntie Oonagh was still very sweet and smuggled some cake to my corners of shame. She didn't manage to backhand me any tact, unfortunately. I bet my Mum and Dad wished they had left me with the aforementioned babysitter.

Reading that again, it sounds as though it is all about me, but for Auntie Oonagh, it always all about someone else.

Alice has just grown into her very posh babygro, bib and matching blanket which Auntie Oonagh sent over. See photo below. Spot the baby!

RIP, with lots and lots of love.