My sister asked me to define my best memory of our mum.
I asked whether it was a collective thing or one moment.
Laura said hers was how she was on maternity leave and mum used to drop Joe off everyday looking beautiful and immaculate, ready to work with our Dad.
Mine was a total contrast of that, every birthday or Christmas, whether she got one necklace or twelve, she put them all on!
oOr memories of mum are both fashion related - good and crazy!!
I have never known a more close knit family than myself, Laura, mum and dad.
We are Neilson's and we are an invincible team, and that legacy with Aidan as a new recruit wil stay with us forever.

Our mum was the most wonderful, amazing, loving, giving, beautiful, witty, intelligent, and selfless person we ever had the fortune to know.
She always made us feel protected, special and loved.
She always went that extra mile and made sure that birthdays were celebrated in style as she was the ringleader of organising all of our special events.

Her dearest wish was to become a grandmother, and when Aidan was born, she felt that she had been bestowed the most precious gift. and was affectionately known as Na-Na Tit

She was the most effortlessly elegant mum in the whole world
We are heartbroken that she was taken away from us so early and we are so proud to call her our Mum



Posted on November 12, 2011

« Next journal entry  |  Previous journal entry »

I cried when you passed away. I cry still today. Although I love you dearly, I couldn't make you stay. A golden heart stopped beating, hard working hands at rest. God broke my heart to prove to me he only takes the best, Put this on your status if there is someone in heaven you miss everyday ♥ For my beautiful friend Viv who was my soulmate and inspiration. I will always love and remember you my darling friend xxx


Posted on November 10, 2011

« Next journal entry  |  Previous journal entry »

36 years ago I was in the Pavillion Dance Hall on the ROYAL PIER. I was talking to a friend and noticed a table at the edge of the dance floor with 3 girls sitting at it. One of the girls was a tall, elegant, beautiful young lady and she caught my attention. My friend who had also seen her said ‘I doubt you will have a chance with her, I’ve been watching her and she is giving one dance when asked and then returning to the table with her friends’.
I waited until the D.J started playing the slow dances and then asked Viv to dance. Our first dance was to the song you have just heard MINNI RIPPERTON “Loving you”. We danced to that song and many more that evening, it was the beginning of a love affair that lasted to this day and will last in my heart for the rest of my life.


When I met Viv she was in the first years of her teaching career, she was a natural and could hold the attention of the whole class. She had energy and presence that filled the classroom, watching her teach was like watching an educational spell being woven.
Viv loved being a teacher and she loved the children in her charge, it was a two way thing as they loved her too. This explains why she still gets Christmas cards from former pupils who now have children of their own and are approaching their forties.
Viv would come home from school and say how she wished she could adopt this or that child, she said they only needed guidance and boundaries and they would be fine. I on the other hand was pleased she couldn’t adopt them as one child in particular had been caught attempting to burn down the school!

In looking through the sympathy cards, three phrases repeated are that she was an inspiration to many, that she brought laughter with her and sunshine into others lives.
Whilst going through her papers I found a short note which gives an example of what I mean.
‘Dearest Viv
I felt compelled to put my heartfelt thank you’s onto paper. This week has been a brilliant learning curve for me, your relaxed, calm ways with the children, along with your supportive attitude has reinforced my desire to continue with the job. Thank you.

Viv touched so many lives and people may, in time, forget what she did, they may forget what she said, but they will never forget how she made them feel.

When Viv and I were told the Chemo had not been successful , that her condition was terminal, and that she only had a few months to live she was offered a place at the Hospice. Viv declined saying she just wanted to go home and stay there as long as possible. I will never be able to express the debt I owe to Val, her sister, and her wonderful friends who had a rota so Viv had 24 hour support. It was this that enabled her to stay in the home she loved for all but the last 5 days of her life. The doctor at Countess Mountbatten Hospice expressed amazement that we had managed to keep her at home for so long, it was only made possible by the loving care she received from her sister and wonderful group of friends.



Viv believed in an afterlife and was sure she would be reunited with her mother and father and her beloved Aunty Betty. Vivs passing has been such a awfully sad event but it does make the afterlife much more attractive.
Viv will be terribly missed, she touched so many lives.
Viv (with apologies to Auden) was my North, my South, my East, my West, she was a wonderful Wife, Mother and Grandmother, she was an inspiration to many.
When I lost Viv I lost my best friend.


Posted on November 9, 2011

« Next journal entry  |  Previous journal entry »

I thought I saw her face today,
Amongst the clouds in the dazzling sun,
And then I heard the angels say,
"her work on Earth is done"
I thought I heard her voice today,
... like an echo from the past,
then I heard the angels say,
"there's peace for her at last"
I thought I felt her touch today,
In the breeze that gently sighs,
then I heard the angels say,
"the spirit never dies"
I thought that she had left me here,
for the stars so far above,
then I heard the angels say,
"she left you with her love"
I thought that I would miss her so,
and never find my way,
but then the angel chorus sang,
"she's with you everyday"

Read by Viv's Godson Paul xxx


Posted on November 9, 2011

« Next journal entry  |  Previous journal entry »