Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

  I wanted to take part in this event because I feel we are so lucky to have a fantastic place like Bolton Hospice here in our town and want to play a tiny part in helping the staff there to continue the wonderful work they do.

  I am walking in memory of four special ladies who, in their own and very different ways, have meant a great deal to me over the years. Sheila my mum, Edith my Nana, Mary my mother in law, and Pat mum to one of the dearest friends you could ever have and a friend in her own right to me.

   If you are lucky enough to have known any of them or are just interested, you may want to read on. Just a few of my own memories of these lovely and very Special Ladies...

        

                    Edith Regan

   Whenever I think of my Nana, the incomparable Edith Regan, I find myself smiling and sometimes laughing out loud! How lucky am I to have had THE most fun loving nana on the planet with a heart bigger than she was, and absolutely no fear of tackling anything and anyone….well she was MY NANA!

   I lived with Nana and Tom as a small child in Flat 5, The Fire Station on Marsden Road, in fact my very earliest memory is of standing in my cot and banging my bottle on the wall for a “Fill up Nana!”, of Delrosa Rosehip Syrup in the middle of the night. I can still see the rabbit motif at the bottom of the cot now and the strange patterns made by the street lights shining through the patterned glass of the front door to the flat.

   Nana took us on adventures, “procuring” Tom’s car for a day trip to Southport, always with salmon and salad sandwiches made with Nimble bread; a trip to the Market Hall where we always stopped on the way in to look at goodies at the stall that sold books, just as you went in the big doors off Corporation Street. If I was good I got to choose a Ladybird book or a small toy on the way home. I always got a treat when I was with my Nana. I remember vividly, Nana slicing her finger open with her lethal bread knife, lots of blood but no fear at all as I watched her calmly find her sewing purse, thread a needle and sew the two flaps of skin back together neatly before continuing to slice the loaf! I don’t remember missing mum and dad when they worked during the week at all because my Nana had a smile that could stop you feeling sad, a hug that could make all the bad things go away and always something fun to do!!!

   She would fall asleep under tables at all night parties, telling me that it she reckoned the Buffet was the best place to head for, crawl under it and nobody could stand on or fall over you as you slept for a short while before waking refreshed to eat , drink and be merry all over again!

   She taught me how to play Patience and Newmarket with a deck of Embassy No 6 playing cards…. we’re talking skills for life here.

  None of my friends had a nana or granny who wore hot pants in the 70’s… my Nana did and velvet Donny Osmond hats in variety of colours too, which she wore whist working behind the bar at the Tempest.

   Stories too numerous to mention here but suffice to  say, whenever I smell Pagan perfume or Blue Ribands     (Paula!) biscuits, see Nimble bread a bottle of Guinness or a one armed bandit, play cards or see a buffet table at a party….I smile and think of the absolute best Nana in the Whole Wide World, mine!

   Love you so much Nana, miss your laughter and your smile, Love always Sally xxx

 

                    Mary Smith   

    Mary Smith was one of the kindest ladies I have ever had the good fortune to meet. She loved and cared for each member of her large family and always made sure there was a very warm Irish welcome in her home for friends and neighbours alike.

   Mary was a dream of a mother in law, couldn’t imagine a better one ever. Miss you Mary, in my prayers always,

   

                     Sally xxx

 

                Pat Wolstenholme 

    You’d be hard pressed to find anyone with more “Joi de vivre” and pure zest for life than Pat. Always a laugh and a joke, always a smile and always up for a party!!!

   I remember the fun we had at Forton Avenue, in “The Bar”, Pat always looking glamorous, her hair, make up and outfit immaculate….what a lovely lady!

   Although we lost touch for a long time, the hug she gave me outside BHS on the precinct when we quite literally bumped into each other, made me feel like it had been only days earlier that we had chatted and laughed together. 

  So glad you got to meet my three children Pat and that we had another chance to laugh at the world and ourselves together again.

  Much love always,

      Sally xxx

                  Sheila Smith   

    Sheila Smith… .it’s hard to even begin to tell anyone about my wonderful mother and yet it’s the easiest thing in the world…She was quite simply, the best friend I will ever have and was a fantastic mother to me and my two brothers!

       Beautiful, in fact the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in all my life was my mother…..”just like Elizabeth Taylor” they used to say ….but she was not Elizabeth Taylor, she was Sheila Regan then Smith, and was in fact more gloriously gorgeous than Liz Taylor ever could be, I won’t make a fuss, just look at the photographs.

 

   Being bored on a rainy day was GREAT with my mum because we always found something to do….we looked in all her handbags for things she’d forgotten to take out , like MONEY £1 and even £5 notes would appear as if by magic! Sweets, chocolate mints and forgotten rings or bracelets as well, maybe a menu from an Indian Restaurant or some other exotic place.

  

   This beautiful woman is my mother and was so delightful in all the ways that mean so much to a small child AND an adolescent girl AND a young woman… I’m certain that Si and Seanie will have different memories but equally sure that they will only add to my own sentiments….

 

 “NEVER try to dye my hair again Mum!”

“I will never let you near me with perming solution again!”

“Are you trying to ruin my life here?”

Maybe she was a frustrated hairdresser?

 

   Always with a pair of scissors in her bag for a “cutting”…OMG it’s true I am actually morphing into my mother!

 

   12.30 Sundays Piccadilly Radio, Susie Matthis: “Lullaby of Broadway” … it was a ritual…clogs on and tap dance around the kitchen! OMG The lads in the vault downstairs thought ….I dunno what they thought but must have sounded bad coming down through the floorboards!

   Night before my wedding when all the crockery needed cleaning, we were tired and looking forward to the next day so wanted an early night. Last thing was to open the boxes and it was all wrong!!!! We needed to stay up to clean and wash and make sure, but we did and the next day, my wedding day, was as beautiful as anyone’s ever was.

   Times change and the world around us moves on, but the one thing that does not change is people. They remain the same, genuine or false, true and kind or otherwise….it has always been the same. I know for sure that my family is full to bursting of honest, kind and true people, regardless of age. I am so very proud to have brothers, children, nephews and nieces who are solid and genuine with good hearts and kind natures. They all seem to understand the nature of “fun” almost as a testament to others in our family who are with us now in spirit. Sheila will always be with me, whenever I look at Lucy or Ruby, there is something about them, an expression, a movement, a giggle or a cry……whatever it is , Sheila is till here always and forever…

  Zest for and pure enjoyment of life is something that I wish for all of them, now and for always xxx

 

 

   I love you so very much Mum, always have done and always will. I know that you know how BLOODY FANTASTIC Lucy and Ruby are, and that Si and Seanie’s grand kids will be just the same! We will make sure they know all about you and Dad cause some things are just TOO good to keep to yourself!

   Goodnight and God Bless

      Sally xxx