I heard this evening that George’s long and painful road has finally come to the end.
He died peacefully in his sleep last night and to be honest it must have been a blessed relief. Increasingly over the last few months I have been aware of the pain he was biting back, and in recent months there have been long periods when he hasn’t been able to talk at all.
I last spoke to George, upbeat as often he was, 3 Sundays ago just after he was moved back from the nursing home to St. Catherine’s Hospice in Crawley. He was happy to be back there even though he knew that the reason must be that they knew he was near the end. Apart from anything else he was able to get his internet connection back via the dongle that the PDA kindly financed and through the contributions to that excellent organisation made by many of you still working and no longer working lorry drivers. Thank you all.
The last 2 Sundays the staff have told me he was ‘too poorly to talk’ and I knew the writing was on the wall.
Funeral arrangements are vague, I think he didn’t really want one and the only wishes he left as far as I am aware are that he be cremated and scattered at a place which he had picked out.
Thus no flowers, other than the crysanths we traditionally display for the departed each All Saints Day here in France, November the 1st, but if anyone wants to help with the wonderful work of the Macmillan Nurses and the Hospice of St. Catherine’s at Crawley I know he would be well pleased. Perhaps a couple of quid for the PDA now and again too, eh? 
So, come next winter a couple of extra bright blooms will adorn our terrasse as we remember our family and friends.
George Pitcher, Funnyfut, 1949-2010 RIP. 