Part 2: To Bev

July 2024

Dear Bev

The winter sun is shining brightly and the world outside looks the same, but there is a less oomph and sparkle now that you’re gone. There were so many trips to be taken; books to read; dresses to buy; people to see. This was not the plan.

You didn’t like to dwell on sadness or stew in anger, so neither shall we. We’ll let the bright memories and endlessly repeated funny stories become embellished until they are epic. Thank you for being the beating heart and spinning centre of the Jones family.

Your legacy is the way that you made people feel, as much as what you physically did for them. I admired your limitless curiosity and compassion for others and enthusiasm for so many pursuits and interest.

Your son may not have your exhausting energy, but he has your values, and your nose (as you often reminded him). Your grandchildren will grow up with the solid certainty that you never doubted in their abilities and potential to be good humans. You taught me that there is no such thing as too much butter, and that a cup of tea is appropriate in any situation.

I can’t quite remember life ‘before Bev’. Decades ago, you folded me into your family like sugar into stiffly whipped egg whites. We will all miss your vigorous hugs and deafening kisses.

Love from Lorraine

Other things to read

• Part 1: To Linz It took a while for me to get used to calling you Lindsay, as in my family we didn’t address older generations by their first names.
• Welcome home away from home I’ve come home to Melbourne. A city that I grew up in then left behind. I’ve left my London home. A city that I settled in but wasn’t somewhere that I wanted to settle down in.