I’m not going to dwell on the if's, what’s or why’s – now is not the time. Today we are gathered to celebrate the life of our wonderful mum/wife. From a selfish point of view mum was always there to reassure me whenever I was scared, upset or feeling low. I can still remember back to when I was a small boy and would wake during the night after a nightmare and the first person I would go to would be my mum – no matter what time of the night she would always welcome me with a warm cuddle. Even in later years when I would doubt whether I was doing things correctly with my children she would always reassure me that I am a wonderful father. I can still remember there was nothing myself and Kathryn would enjoy more than getting into bed with mum at the weekend when we were children and making a fuss of her. We would sit on her bed and comb her hair for her or just both lay there and have a cuddle. If you saw a photo of me as young child you would probably think that butter wouldn’t melt in my mouth but I can remember a lot worse coming out of it! I can remember being whisked up the stairs and the taste of that bar of soap after ‘my friends’ were all too eager to tell her of the new vocabulary I appeared to have developed at such an early age…never again springs to mind! The bar of soap was soon to be replaced with the flying slipper or dreaded wooden spoon! It worked for a while until I can remember just being that little bit bigger and braver and then one day swiping it out of mums hand and chasing her round the house – can still remember those words now ‘Wait till your father gets home!’ My love for football meant that Mum and Dad would spend most of their weekends coming to matches. Dad came most of the time but you sure knew when Mum was there, if we came close to scoring or the other team did all you would here is a loud squeal and mum would be there totally involved in the game expressing herself as only mum knew. Players would ask who that is making the noise – that is my mum would be the reply. There were plenty of fun times, we had such a great upbringing, 2 parents that loved us but there were serious times as well and mum knew when it was time for one of us to fly the nest! You could say by the time I’d left school, college and started working I had a few quid in my pocket and beer wasn’t expensive then. I’d got into quite a regular routine, out Thursday, Friday and Saturday night and let’s not forget a few on a Sunday either after playing for my beloved Celtic. I can remember one Sunday Mum said she would cook a nice roast only for me to come back from the pub with one of my friends and give Kathryn a hard time – thanks mum for a lovely dinner and off we went again, Kathryn distraught and our stomachs lined for a few more! The next day mum had one of her chats and it was time to stop wasting my money on beer and invest in a home of my own. At the time it was a bit of a shock but Mum knew what was right for me. Personally for me, one of the greatest memories I have is crossing the finishing line at Silverstone in March and having Mum there waiting for me, so proud. Nearly 2 hours of hell, the first 9 miles were OK but the last 4 were a struggle but the thought of mum kept me going. What’s 2 hours of pain compared to 5 years of MND? Never once did you moan, if we asked if you were in pain the answer would always be no – always protecting us. I gave you my medal that day because no one deserved it more and I know you are taking it with you today. I’m sure everyone here today at some point would have been received a ‘smacker’ from you at some point. At the time they received it you wouldn’t have thought anything about it, it was just you being you. It wasn’t until you got home, looked in the mirror or someone else pointed it out to you that you would have a bright pink lip mark on your face! We can constantly remember wiping that pink lippie of the grandkids lips, cheeks, hair! I never did get to say goodbye or how much I loved you as it was so sudden in the end. What I can remember though is that you were laying there, hair immaculate as always, makeup on, pink lipstick and nails all done and you looked at peace. No more pain or suffering. Our beautiful mum.