Christine Mary Pitts

13th March 1952 – 2nd December 2010

I am heartbroken and the pain feels unbearable.

I was given the gift of a mother who always showed me she loved me and who often told me that she loved me. I have loved her my entire life… and will continue to do so.

Mum was a wonderful woman who put her family before anything else. She cared deeply about all those who were close to her from us, her immediate family, to the recent additions of her son-in-law’s family. My mum was the best mum in the world. I know everyone says that, but she truly was.

Mum was always there when you needed her, often when you didn’t too. She knew what to say, what to do for any occasion. She didn’t always find it easy, but she managed somehow.

As we were growing up, Mum was always very supportive of me and my sister. She always said she wasn’t bothered what we did, what we grew to do, as long as we were happy. I remember Mum and Dad taking us away regularly to the coast, stopping in the caravan at Yeddingham, going on bike rides which seemed like miles, when it was probably not very far at all. Mum loved going away at the weekends, and in the summer – we had many lovely trips to France in the caravan too.

In the last two years of her life, since she had her stroke, we grew closer than we ever had before. With dad working away during the week, it was with me that she spent most of her time. We could finish each other’s sentences, know what each other thought and rely and trust each other with most things.

Having stopped working, Mum was keen on keeping her brain sharp, keeping her mind focussed. She wanted ways to fill her time, and we filled in many crosswords and sudokus together, watched many a quiz show in the evenings. She loved having things to aim for – be they big things like helping to organise my sister’s wedding, or small things like baking biscuits and buns for the church or the fire service. Her stroke took away a lot of her independence, she didn’t feel she could go out on her own very often and she was grateful to those people who gave up some of their time to take her somewhere or pop round and be with her in the day.

Mum will be remembered for many things, but we will always remember her for her sense of humour. She loved children and the little things they did – some of them tickled her for ages. She adored my brother-in-law’s nephews and all the other new additions to the families of our friends. She was probably at her happiest when surrounded by those she loved – and those who loved her. Mum really looked forward to a birthday meal, when we could gather everyone together for a purpose. She wanted everyone to be part of one big family – my brother-in-law’s parents became firm friends of theirs and it was important to her to have a close relationship with them. It seems fitting that she was alongside her family as she began to peacefully slip away. We were together for one final time.

Her death is a surprise to us all. Mum had been building back her strength and starting to live her life as she wanted to again.

If Mum was reading this today, I hope she would see how proud I am of her.