The obituary notice of Mary (Evelyn) BALL (nee Hubbert)

Another year's flown by, but your wise guidance is still as valuable as ever. I found a pic of your last soaking up of sunshine in the fresh February air at LL. That would have been impossible this year! Thanks again for everything from all of us. xx

Two years on, and still so many fond memories guiding us on confidently through the minefields of complexity that now characterise the increasingly less attractive modern world around us. How awesome it still is to recall the visit of your iconic King Eric to your very own kitchen, just one week too late on 22April2021

It's one year on since our dear Mary finally let go at 102. Wise way beyond even those years, in all things that really matter. Gone, but no way forgotten - and still guiding us onwards through the ever more complex minefields of modern life.
She has mercifully been spared witnessing the horrors of what is now being suffered by folks in Ukraine, and asylum seekers in UK.
Her house of 56 years is now home to a new family, as her wonderful neighbours adjust as we do to the new reality.
Rick spotted this lovely poem which captures so much, and she would have loved:

Darling
by Jackie Kay

You might forget the exact sound of her voice
Or how her face looked when sleeping.
You might forget the sound of her quiet weeping
Curled into the shape of a half moon,



When smaller than her self, she seemed already to be leaving
Before she left, when the blossom was on the trees
And the sun was out, and all seemed good in the world.


I held her hand and sang a song from when I was a girl -

Heil Ya Ho Boys, Let her go Boys
And when I stopped singing she had slipped away,
Already a slip of a girl again, skipping off,
Her heart light, her face almost smiling.



And what I didn't know or couldn't see then
Was that she hadn't really gone.
The dead don't go till you do, loved ones.
The dead are still here holding our hands.

Mary's simple private funeral will take place on Friday 30th April at 9am with just Anne and Ian physically present. The accompanying music will be Life & Death by Avishai Cohen. Mary was deeply touched by the jazz funerals we attended with her whilst she was visiting us in New Orleans.

Mary was my neighbour for over 35 years. She was a true inspiration. Her intelligence, independence and compassion taught me so much. She was a pioneer, she had unwavering values including that education and equality were a basic human right for all. She also taught me the importance of positive thinking. Deepest sympathies to her family and all those many friends of this very special lady.
Thank you Mary. Carolyn x