Love of nature – reverent love for birds, flowers, plants, trees. Walking the Pembrokeshire Coast Path in raptures about the spring flowers. Walks at Wagonners Wells for the autumn colours.
Absolute dedication to her family – always regaling everyone – including shop assistants and strangers on the street - with what her kids and grandkids were up to. Was there to support at every football game, choir concert, orchestra performance etc.
Generosity – ‘always thinking of others’ is often used as a platitude but in Sue’s case, it was naturally the way she was. Her home was always open to friends and the friends of her kids.
Kindness – she was completely dedicated to looking after her own mum (who also had MS) and her dad, cooking meals for them, visiting regularly, taking them out, and generally bringing the sunshine. She was a volunteer at the local hospice, taking care of people at the end of their life where she also learnt hand and foot massage to bring peace to the patients.
Gratitude – always so grateful for every kindness, every visit and phone call.
Making friends – Sue made friendship an artform, she gathered friends wherever she went and loved nights out with them. She remembered everyone’s birthdays, sent cards and chose presents, and celebrated when children and grandchildren came along. Even when she was confined to a chair, unable to move, she was still making friends!
Strength through adversity – another characteristic mentioned by so many friends is Sue’s incredible courage. Through her 18 years of MS, she never complained even when life became extremely challenging and she was confined to her chair.
Positive outlook – which leads on to her inimitable outlook; she always chose to look on the bright side and savour life’s pleasures even when times were hard.
Love of music – eclectic tastes, from soaring arias to Santana. Always had music playing, often singing along at the top of her voice.
Pioneering natural approach to life – raised her kids to love the environment (Save the Whale marches when Melissa and Lucy were tiny), member of Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, RSPB, Woodland Trust etc, grew her own food, natural childbirth, homeopathy.
Working for wildlife photographer Heather Angel – wrote up all of Heather’s notes from her travels around the globe for Heather's amazing wildlife books.
Gardening - her understanding of plants and her creativity found harmony when gardening. She nurtured a beautiful garden for us and her friends to enjoy. She also loved visiting gardens with family and friends.
Creativity – from embroidery to pastel sketching and pottery; painting to sewing and calligraphy, Sue absolutely loved creating. She was also a big supporter of independent artists and craftspeople, and wherever we went we ended up visiting art fairs and craft stalls. She made Mike “Bluebell”, a curvaceous ceramic garden sculpture.
Fantastic cook – everyone who knew her knew her amazing cooking, skills passed down from her own beloved mum and onto to her lucky kids (though none of us has managed to recreate her recipes with quite the same mama magic). Cooked us a nourishing meal every evening.
Her allotment – loved growing her own food and could be found there in her dungarees with Melissa and Lucy. Went into labour with Ben while digging potatoes.
Mischievous – her ‘wicked sense of humour’ was mentioned on many of the cards and is remembered by all who knew her. Hysterical giggles with friends, cheeky jokes..
Rock Choir – a founder member of the now international ‘world’s largest choir’, singing and dancing with them brought her so much joy. Performed at Wembley with 8,000 other members which got them into the Guinness Book of World Records. We joined them (and Sue) singing at her funeral service with a CD recorded in 2009.
