My close friend, Sarah Didinal, died suddenly in her sleep on June 2nd 2009. She was a fit and healthy 37-year-old who lived life to the full. She left her partner Andy and their three small sons. Sarah and I met in Bondi Beach, Australia, in August 1997, when we were both backpacking around the world….

My husband, Terry, and I received a telephone call from our son-in-law on Saturday 10 January 1998 at approximately 8am to say that our daughter, Lisa Jane Browne, a nurse, aged 27 years, was being taken to hospital. My son-in-law told me that he had received a telephone call from the hospital ward, where Lisa was…

Think back to the quick goodbye hug you and your loved one had this morning. Now imagine it was your last. That’s the image James Brown, 31, plays over in his mind every day. The date was the 2nd of July last year and it was a beautiful sunny day. My wife Katrina and I were…

Like a lot of Mum’s I have boxes in the loft with my children’s drawings, cards, special stories etc. In the Summer of 2018 as Izzy was preparing to go to University I decided to make her a photo book with all her favourite people and little oddments from her childhood. It was then I rediscovered…

Thomas Shackleton died on the 19th May 2004, aged 21. Thomas was a great musician who played the guitar and could make a tune on any instrument. This was one of his songs (click to listen) that we played at his funeral – and on his gravestone we have a guitar engraved into the marble with…

My name is Teresa Byers, I am the mother of four boys, with a broken heart. On 9th February 2000 our world came tumbling down. Our 3rd son James, who was being treated for Wolf Parkinson White, dropped dead in school at the age of 7. The teachers worked non-stop to revive him until the medics…

Stephen and I had been together for 12 years. We had our ups and downs like most couples but we always stuck together and we were best friends. We finally tied the knot in October 2015. We were inseparable – in all of the years the most we had ever spent apart was 7 nights. I…

Andrew Mark was my first born, a perfect baby in every way. He grew up into a fine young man, a great son, and a wonderful brother to Stephen and Timothy. He loved and enjoyed life to the fullest. Andrew grew fast and was tall for his age. He experienced a couple of fainting attacks as…

5th December 1977, David Paul Staff entered this world and made our lives truly happy and at that time the happiest day of our lives. As years passed, everyone who came into contact with him grew to like him, he hadn’t a malicious, vindictive bone in his body. He was a really lovely person to be…

Jude was born on October 19, 2006, in ARI Aberdeen, a precious son to Eric and Ruth and brother to Lois and Maya.  Jude embarked on his educational journey at Scouthall Playgroup in Westhill before moving on to Elrick school. He spent seven joyful years there before transitioning to Westhill Academy, where he was in his fifth year. Jude had a fondness for the social aspects of school, though he was less enthusiastic about the academic work. Despite this, he successfully passed all his Nat5s and was preparing for his higher exams….