Happy Birthday, you never forgot my birthday and this was one of the last cards you sent....
Needless to say on many an occasion we rested our wings :-)
I am sure you will have Abba on full blast, loads of chocolate and wine & I will raise a toast to you today.
Missed soo much my beautiful friend.
Teri & Onelia x

To Auntie Valerie, my fairy godmother,

Today is a big day for me because I have my county final and I also got my L  plate for driving. We always laughed about how I would be the one driving you and my mother around. 
There’s nothing I wouldn’t do now then to be able to drive ye to whatever dodgy shopping mall my mother desired!!

For the final today, I wrote your name on my hurley to give me luck because I know that you will be watching me from the sky :)  I will be thinking of you and I know that your magic will be with me for every second of the match.

I will never stop missing you Auntie Valerie and I will always be thinking of you wherever I am.
Forever loved,
Onelia.

Cherished memories of my very special, kind hearted friend Valerie. You brought and shared so much love and laughter into all our lives. Lots of love Caroline ❤. Xxx

Nice story Russ.
Agree with you, I also think of Val so often, still hard to believe she is not in Dubai, waiting for the right time to go and see her...

Time naturally goes on and it’s hard to believe that we’re now 7 months plus since we lost Valerie. Of course she remains a constant in the thoughts of our family and doubtless, equally so with her’s and Kevin’s friends.  


For us there’s rarely a family meal that goes by without us reminiscing.


In the same way that I wear my Dad’s watch, 2-3 times each week, I’m lucky enough to have something that reminds me of Valerie on a regular basis.


For one of my ‘special’ birthdays Kevin and Valerie bought me a Porsche Design pen which, much like my Dad’s watch, I use not every day but regularly enough so that it’s genuinely used as opposed to just looked at. I was writing some notes only yesterday and the rollerball refill ran out of ink prompting me to send off for new supplies. It gave me a moment however to just think back. Kevin & Valerie knew that I liked Porsche Cars but never owned one so this was the next best thing! For over 20 years therefore I can say that I’ve owned a Porsche - & it even get’s polished from time to time!

I have known you for my entire life as my godmother and as my Auntie. My earliest memory of you was a funny yet exalting experience for me and you! I was 5 years old at the time and you were talking to my mother and I decided that it would be fun to start pulling the pockets of your jeans from behind and to my dismay I got absolutely flattened!! This memory makes me laugh because I think you were as shocked as I was. For some reason, you had a habit of falling on me :,) One thing I always remember (my young tomboy-self respected you very much for this) was that you always wore a dress and I wisely thought to myself that instead of pulling you from behind….I would pull your dress up instead and this caught me by surprise because I got much more then I had bargained for……!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think you wanted to flatten me on purpose after that prank… When I went over to your house with mam, I remember you always having glass bottled coke and I remember thinking “she is so cool”. I instantly hoped that your ‘coolness’ would brush off on my mother too :) . When I was younger, I compared you to a fairy-godmother and there was honestly no better comparison, you were magic to me. The first time I had a sleep-over at your house, you brought me to the supermarket and let me buy as much chocolate as I wanted. This literally confirmed to me that you were my fairy godmother, we were destined to meet. There are so many memories that we have that make me smile, laugh and cry. I remember I never liked going to mass because I found it boring and I was always jealous of you because you never went and I said to my mam that when I grow up, I’m going to be just like Auntie Valarie. I know now that there were so many other reasons I hoped to be like you. If I ever become even a quarter of the person you were, I’ll have a shot at becoming a saint, no question. Wherever you are, I hope that you are in a world that has a better version of Mamma Mia 2 . Even though you and my mother said it wasn’t as good as the first movie, you still managed to cry when it finished! I realize now that you weren’t just a godmother or an auntie, you were my mother’s best-friend and you were also mine too. I will never stop missing you and your magic, you will forever be a part of my world even if I am not in yours any-more. Until we meet again, I love you always Your little prankster.

“Valerie, call on me

Call on me, Valerie

Come and see me

Or you’ll miss the Inter-City......”


Just one of the many stories to tell over the 35 years that Valerie was in my life. This was me singing from the bottom of the stairs in Ibberson Avenue; it was a Monday morning and I was taking Valerie to Doncaster train station for her return to Loughborough after the week-end when she worked for Fisons. We were late and I can still see her laughing as she ran down the stairs and of course it was Kevin’s fault who had not set the alarm!


The Monday morning ‘dash to Donnie’ was soon replaced by a brand new ‘racey’ Fiesta XR2i - 1998 ‘F’ reg. It was a beaut in Diamond White with black trim. Valerie loved that car and truth be told I must have also as I seemed to wash it a lot ………. little brother syndrome I suppose - I was taxi & car cleaner and loved every minute of my responsibilities as delegated by Kev. It was a privilege to play such a part in their lives together.


We used to play Steve Winwood a lot at the many parties in Riyadh. This was where I first met Valerie - Kev’s new girlfriend in the mid ’80’s - it was obvious that this one was for keeps, right from the very start - Valerie was ‘the one’.


I say that, not just on reflection, but based on the fact that she was immediately like a sister; it was like we’d known each other for ages.


Some of those Riyadh parties were evenings of legend and every week-end was full of fun. Sometimes ‘twister by the pool’ when we all got really in the mood; Valerie would often be ring master. Or trips to the desert with the hooch (siddique) masquerading as Johnson’s Baby Oil in case we were stopped en-route by the authorities. It was also a comfort to have a Pharmacist and a Pharmacy technician in the team as we distilled our own liquor. It was a delicate and fine art making ‘Jeddah Gin’ from potatoes, lemons, water and yeast in a black bin. Similarly, ‘Bacardi’ from potatoes, lemons, water and yeast in a black bin and Vodka from (you guessed it) potatoes, lemons, water and yeast in a black bin.


With tonic the product was G&T, with Orange it became a screwdriver and with coke it was a Bacardi n’ coke. Now, with all the technicality aside; we had the secret weapon; the pharmacy brains to do it right - and everyone believed it! - Genius!


Raucous fun aside I also remember having both VHS and Betamax and watching Eddie Murphy films on quieter nights with Kevin and Valerie.


Mine & Kevin and Valerie’s late 80’s - early 90’s repatriation saw us all continuing with the fun: Our speedboat experiences in the Lakes (some quite remarkable bar bills at The Low Wood Hotel - one in particular when an innocent member of the bar staff was stopped literally in his tracks as he dared to serve the fiori sambuco just as Valerie was heading to the Ladies; … I can see it now, clear as day - she gently halted him with her left hand on his shoulder whilst picking one of the drinks up with her right hand and downing it … enough said).


Valerie could water ski well and it came to her easily and I understand the was pretty good on a ski slope; Kev would describe her as a really good “shoosher and whoosher”. 


And another moment of ‘pure Valerie’ - A dozen or so of us went to a new Italian restaurant in Sheffield where the cars were valet parked - Medios I think it was called. We were all in ‘National Lampoons’ mode and we played a game where we had to say a word and go around the table saying the word slightly louder each time. Brinkmanship. 


Valerie was 4th in line and won the contest outright by going immediately to a number 10 on the volume dial. It was truly hilarious as none of us thought we’d be trumped by this ‘wee slip of a lassie’ with such a voice. Don’t worry, we weren’t thrown out but the restaurant stopped for a moment and Valerie’s smiling face was a picture - was her victory ever in doubt?


Valerie saw the good in everyone, was amazing with kids (our two are truly blessed to have had such an Aunty - they will have their own thoughts to post) and loved pets; cats in particular. I’ve heard it said that animals have a 6th sense and are immediately attracted to humans who are that way inclined - when Valerie met our dog for the first time - he simply walked over and sat on her lap, and wouldn’t leave. Enough said.


Valerie’s levels of sensibility were beyond reproach. She didn’t need to be told when someone was down and she was a comfort to those close to her whenever they were feeling so. Equally she’d celebrate and congratulate with the best of them.


On my second Riyadh tour, Valerie was there for me in my hour of need when family circumstances required. A caring and compassionate person. 


Quite naturally, as a member of her ‘close-knit’, she let me off a time or two when I transgressed; Valerie had a very forgiving nature. 


Lotty and Jim loved her because of her genuine personality and the fact that she provided such a backbone to Kev’s life. She had no edge to her, just a genuine individual. So, as Kev & Val built and continued their overseas life Mum and Dad were happy that he was in safe hands and of course when they passed Valerie was Kev’s rock.


Family and friends visits to see them in DXB were always followed by family reports of how Valerie was the perfect host. We were all ‘treated’ when we went there and the extended family friends the same. 


Fast forward to September 2016 …….. a trip to celebrate Kev’s 60th. His best friends and his brothers & of course his darling Valerie. In many respects it was to mark the beginning of what was on the cards in the coming years. More time with those Valerie and Kev loved the most and of course travel.


To find ourselves here therefore is nothing short of an abuse of our senses. A beautiful life cut short. We simply shouldn’t be here.

Rest in peace sweetie.


Rusty, Tracey, Jamie and Charlie