We miss you

James, Annelie, Aunty Jane, Joy, Granny Lulu, King Grandpa, Suzie, The Mercury Man, River Phoenix, David Bowie, John Lennon, Prince, Amy Winehouse, Iris, Grace

and countless others

We’ve all experienced loss

We’ve all experienced grief

When you’re surrounded by

spirits

When you can sense and

feel their energy

Or sometimes their distance

Knowing they’re not far away

Just somewhere over the rainbow

I’ve shed waterfalls of tears

When it comes to loss

James, diagnosed with

Schizophrenia

But such a beautiful soul

I remember biking to Hurlingham

With you

Singing Bob Marley songs

Whether you fell or jumped

It doesn’t matter

Because I know you flew

Those visions I get of you

On the other side

In a boat

On the water

Coming to see me in bird

form

Walking on my own

And telling me to look back

To see the perfect rainbow

You were such a beautiful

writer

Such a delicate energy

I still feel you sometimes

But the distance feels greater

Annelie

We lost you to alcohol

But those piercing blue eyes

And white blonde hair

Your art on the walls

in Vermont

The colours you used

Telling me how you were

feeling

I spoke to a guy in AA once

When I was leaving GA

He said he loved alcohol

more than his wife

more than his life

The Buddhist monks created

alcohol

The spirit

When it takes hold of you

The affliction of the addiction

Feels stronger than you

That’s when you need

Your higher power

To surrender

Step 1

of the 12 Steps

‘God, grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot

change

The courage to change the

things I can

and the wisdom to know

the difference’

Annelie came to see me

as a bird in Vermont

She told me to look after

her partner

my uncle Tom

And I will

Aunty Jane, without you

I wouldn’t have my flat

So I am grateful to you

Every day

For your kindness towards Will,

Laura, Mill and me

Without child

We remember staying with

you in Croydon

Your dogs

Your sandwiches

You turning up four hours

before Christmas lunch

It was hilarious

But we loved you for it

Running down to see you

in our pyjamas

After opening our stockings

You were under 5ft

I think your growth was stunted

When Grandpa lost his leg

In the war

The shock

We miss you

Joy

What a magic sister you were

to Granny Lulu

In the end you lost your

mind

to Dementia

But I could see you were

just in your own world

And I drew comfort in that

Granny Lulu

What a gift you had

It’s in your blood line

With the name St Clair

Your gift was strong

Thank you for all the love

and memories with Grandpa

In Portugal

In your flat

Watching Little Lord Fauntleroy

My Fair Lady

These films had a big impact

On my life

You always gave me such

wise advice

You battled Osteoporosis, had

a quadruple heart bypass,

several strokes

Having to learn to walk

again

Yet you never complained

Had a unique relationship

With each of your grandchildren

and Cami

Your great grand daughter

King Grandpa

Cami gave you that name

And boy, it suited you

I remember you sitting at

the head of the table at

Jules’ for Sunday lunch,

Christmas, any occasion

Becoming more and more

outrageous as the years went

on

The way you cared for Granny

So much love and devotion

You taught me so much

about your relationship with

Granny

A champion 100 yard sprinter

You held the record for 50 years

A fantastic rugby player

You joined the Grenadier Guards

And danced with The Queen

Fought heroically in the

Second World War

Losing your leg

On that Fateful Day

21st March at noon

The same day and time

That your uncle, Geoffrey Bassett

Lost his life in the First

World War

Who you were named after

But you continued on

With style

Marrying Granny

Giving birth to your two children

Michael, my father and Julia

Running a successful drinks

company

You brought us so much joy

and laughter

We still love you

And sometimes I sense you

At the most random of moments

‘Love you darling Al’

You never seem that far away

Suzie, we never met

But Tom has told me

You were the most incredible

healer

With a rare powerful gift

Your husband told Tom

You still continue your

work in heaven

And you really do

People like you are rare

gifts

That graced this earth

We are all fortunate due

to your powers

You seem to continue on

And we are forever grateful

The Mercury Man

Where to begin dear Freddie

My Rock God

Your power on stage

Your pace

Your skill

Your voice

Your laugh

I remember when you came

through briefly

Telling me I was born to

be on stage

I’ve never forgotten

And continue to learn

from everything you achieved

in life

Taken by Aids

But your last song saying

The words ‘ I still love you’

Well I still love you Freddie

River Phoenix

What a life

What a soul

Not sure who it was who

came through

Some kind of connection to

your spirit

Looking through my photo

albums

Teaching me how to cry

When I was at Drama

School

Telling me all your siblings’

names

So many visions

So many stories

Who knows what it was

But it felt so real

And the revelations were

incredible

David Bowie

What an artist

What a revolutionary

Your music

Your make up and costumes

‘John, I’m only dancing’

Leads me on to

John Lennon

One of my favourite lyrics you

wrote

‘Why do you think you’re

here, when you’re everywhere’

Everything you achieved with

the Beatles

and as a solo artist

I remember the time when

you came through

When your son Sean

was writing Friendly Fire

My favourite jeans

and t-shirt

I was often barefoot at

that time

Such creative times and

memories

You were shot

Taken suddenly, unfairly

But your work lives on

Imagine, that album

Along with Queen got me

into writing songs and lyrics

Prince

What an all round genius

of a musician

I am learning more about

your work, your moves

and what you did

recently

My brother was always a

big fan of yours as is Tom

Amy Winehouse

Where to begin

You achieved so much in

such a short space of time

Your soul voice

Your unique nature

Pretty sure it was your

guidance that led me

to meeting someone

that night

Always there sometimes far

Sometimes close

It was the drugs and drink

that got you in the end

part of the magic 27 club

You will always be remembered

Iris

What a friend you were to

Cami

Taken too young

So many rainbows

So much light

Such an incredible spirit

You are sorely missed

Taken by a tragic accident

Grace

The only sister to three

brothers

You died at seventeen

I’ve never cried so much

at someone’s funeral

It’s been fourteen years

Since you died

Such a beauty

An amazing swimmer

So creative

I remember that time

a bird came to my

window sill and I felt

it was you

I love your family and

your friends

Your grace lives on

There are so many others

We have lost along the

way

Everyone can relate to

grief

They are not far away

Some people we have lost

in life

People drift apart

But we carry on living

Almost in parallel lives

We are all a lot closer

than we realise

no need to ever feel

alone

We care

Any they’re just over there