Last Sunday we got a phone call, one we knew was coming, but all the same we dreaded it. Auntie Paddy had finally lost her battle against cancer.
In the 12 years that I have lived here Paddy played a huge part in my life. I’m positive if it had not been for Paddy I wouldn’t still be here. She was my support, my tour guide, my confidant and most of all she was my friend. The time I spent with Paddy was always fantastic. She was who I turned to for advice, help or when I just needed someone to listen to me.
Without Paddys help and support, the first few years of me living here would have been a lonely place and I would have found adjusting so much harder than I already did. She helped me sign up for a National Insurance Number and to sign up for temp work. She went with me to hospital when I broke my finger, brought food and drink when I was ill. She listened to me when I needed someone to rant at when everything seemed wrong with the world.
Paddy was like my second Mom…my English Mum if you like. She was a strong woman who never took shit from anyone. She’s the type of woman I can only dream of being like. If I can be half the woman she was I’d be happy. I was proud to have known her and blessed beyond anything she could have grasped to have known her and to have had her in my life.
Selfishly I would give anything for one more day to spend with her, one more hour to tell her how grateful I am for everything that she did for me, one more second to hug her and tell her that I loved her. But this is the price we pay for opening our hearts and for loving people. We get left behind with a hole in our lives.
I will miss Paddy for the rest of my life, I hope I continue to live up to her expectations and I will forever hear her voice in my head when I need to.
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