I stand before you today at what is for so many of us an immensely sad and emotional time. Our unconscious response to death, particularly one so untimely is one of grief and sadness. And understandably so. In my mother we have lost one of the most caring, fun loving, and inspirational people that many of us will ever meet. She was the ultimate support to me and Rachel as a mother, and to others as a wife, sister, friend, co-worker, teacher, and to so many people in so many ways. But while we grieve at this time I urge each and every one of us to think and remember my mother how she was. She herself had many struggles in her life, but not once was she overcome by any of them. Whilst she was a very warm and loving person, she was also an immensely strong person. There are so many things that I will miss about her. I’ll miss coming home and spending what would be hours watching episodes of Who wants to be a Millionaire and seeing who would get the most correct answers. I’ll miss getting text messages asking the name of some South American mountain range that she needs to complete the Guardian Crossword. And if I didn’t know, I’ll miss her telling me how she would just Google it and tell her friends that she had completed it all by herself. But most of all I will miss her warmth, her company, and the comfort of knowing that whatever I did, wherever I was, there was always that one person to whom I could turn for the most simple, yet the most complete and unwavering support that she would offer to me, and indeed to all of us here today throughout our times with her. Though my mother has left us, I feel that she lives on in me and in every one of us here today. She would not want us to mourn her or to be sad. She lived her life always smiling, always laughing, and always caring. If each of us resolves to live our lives more in this way then there can be no more fitting tribute to her. So the next time you get the chance to blow a party popper in someone’s ear, to call your friend for no other reason than that you know they are on a quiet bus, or to stand in the school lunch queue and make obvious your displeasure to every child not taking the vegetarian option. Please do, and smile, and think of her. In this way we all keep the memory of my wonderful mother alive. And no doubt, just as she did, we can all have a lot of fun doing it.