Catherine Blegg

We called her Mum, but to the many other children who stayed with us she was Aunty Cath,

Some stayed for so long that even after they had gone their name was still called to come to tea.

Mum had a generous heart she sewed baskets of clothes for children she could see needed them.

But we didn’t miss out, if we saw something in the shop and showed mum She could go home cut it out without a pattern and we could then have the latest fashions to wear, The same as  our friends whose parents could afford to buy readymade designer clothes.

Mum made all the dresses for the junior choir, when she realized that no one had one that fitted properly, We went on a country tour, crammed into 2 cars, But we all looked resplendent in our blue and white dresses.

Mum taught Elocution, Public Speaking and Singing,

Before age caught up with her she was an excellent listener to people with problems.

At her funeral service, a celebration of her life, We found that she had studied at university, in Psychology and Public Speaking,

She never told anyone except her husband, they were just pieces of paper to be filed away.

Her mother taught her dressmaking and she taught me, but I will always need a pattern.

She taught me to sing before I could walk, and I sang duets with my older sister in many competitions,

Mum taught us so well to project our voices that we nearly always gained 1st place.

To thank mum for this gift she gave me, I sang a song she requested at her funeral service,

and I heard what she had so often said,

“If you feel nervous sing to the bricks on the back wall”, so I did just that.

At a memorial service for a soldier who died young in battle, they say : “Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn,” 

For mum having reached 91 years and 7 months, this was not the case,

So I will remember her the way she was when I was younger,

The best cook, greatest maker of the best dresses, a very caring person,

A clever lady and the best mum a kid could have.

Remembered with much love

Heather