To you Mum
Le Plus de Nos Vies
EN TOUT TEMPS ET EN CE LIEU TU AS RENDEZ-VOUS AVEC L’AMOUR
Mary Doreen DAVID
(born Mahoney)
22.02.1922 - 22.02.2009
My Dearest Mum,
Where do I start to convey to you the love and affection that all your 6 children and 14 grandchildren have had for you during your life time? It is a shame that your 13 great grand children will not have had the opportunity of knowing you. There will never be any words suitable enough to describe how blessed we have been to have had you as our Mother. You have looked after all of us from the time we were born and you were always there in our times of pain and distress.
I can never forget the times when we were allowed out to parties during school holidays and so as not to get into trouble with dad who had given strict instructions that we should be back before midnight, you would turn the clock back while dad was sleeping in case he woke up before we were back and checked the time. You would stay awake all night and open the door for us to creep back inside to our bedrooms. Bless you Mum.
You have given joy to thousands of youngsters whilst you passed on to them your love of the art of Ballet in which you excelled. The pride that these youngsters have is reflected in the respect they showed you earlier whilst you made your way towards the altar. Yes Mum, you made your mark in that field and you were justly decorated with an M.S.K by the Government of Mauritius for your unfailing contribution to the Arts.
In fact you literally made your Marc, as it is said that behind every successful man stands a great woman. Well, I can say with certainty that you were indeed a great woman and when dad was, deservedly, bestowed a Knighthood, you were duly rewarded with the title of Lady. But you did not need to wait for this title Mum as you have always been in our eyes a true Lady in every sense of the word.
I have always been fascinated with numbers and your birth date was no exception. As Jean Claude has already mentioned, you were born on the 22.2.22 and you decided to slip away gently on your tip toes, on that date of your 87th birthday and we did not have time to cut the birthday cake which your youngest daughter Teresa had specially chosen for you.
However we had this amazing grace of arriving at your bedside just in time to say goodbye and for my wife Doris to clasp dads hand into yours the very moment you drew your last breath. We are thankful that your daughters Jane & Cookie managed to fly out immediately on learning the sad news to be with us today to share in our grief.
Although we are all sad to see you depart this earthly life, we truly rejoice in the knowledge and faith that you are now resting in peace, cradled by the warm embrace of our Lord. My prayer today is that the Lord gives strength to Dad to carry on his journey without you, his faithful wife and companion for the last 61 years.
I wish to thank you for having taught me your great sense of humility and compassion. I also ask for your forgiveness if, unknowingly, I may not have fulfilled all your last wishes.
I will say goodbye now in the same way as you so fondly used to say goodbye to our brother Francis “Love and leave you”.
Rest peacefully our very own English Rose. WE LOVE YOU MUM
Maurice
27th February 2009