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My Dearest Friend Ducksie - R I P
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It is with profound sadness and grief I announce the death this week of my dearest friend ducksie (aka headwreck). We first met on AB many years ago and a wonderful, close friendship developed. I visited her in Ireland many times (though sadly not since lockdown) and we had such marvelous times together. We enjoyed chatting on Skype most days and evenings. ducksie would introduce me to her family, friends and neighbours and they all welcomed me into their lives. It was so easy to fall in love with the Irish people and their beautiful country. I would drive ducksie on mystery tours - they didn't start out as such but she was not the greatest navigator - nevertheless, we always had great fun together.
Never have I known anyone who was so gentle, compassionate, caring, kind, supportive, generous and brave as was this lady. She cared for her dear, adored mother through cancer, heart problems and finally dementia. She loved all her family (5 sisters and 5 brothers) and their children. ducksie was a very respected member of her community and looked out for her neighbours and friends. She also looked out for me all the while and her never-ending support saw me through operations and cancer. She undertook charitable work such as sponsored walks and helping to feed the homeless. A devout Catholic who had been a pilgrim to both Knock and Lourdes.
An educated lady, whose first language was Irish, and very proud of her Irish ancestry. She was fantastic at recalling historical events and dates. Some of her other loves were crosswords (the doyenne of RTE on AB), and swimming. ducksie could out-swim a mermaid and found it the best therapy when she needed a boost and had the energy to swim. I was in awe of her ability to solve crosswords in English which was her second language.
All the time I knew ducksie she endured failing health and was in pain every day though she carried on regardless keeping her lovely home clean, the garden was always tidy - it brought her so much joy - and she did her own shopping and cooking. Somehow, she managed it all in her indefatigable way and with great humour. ducksie suffered cancer twice, a heart attack, asthma, diabetes and cancer again. How she managed to beat cancer 3 times is almost beyond my comprehension, but I witnessed at first hand her absolute faith, fortitude and strength of character to survive. Through all these medical issues, ducksie was served so very well by her G.P. , his colleagues, local nurses as well as the hospitals she was admitted to in Kilkenny, Dublin and Waterford. ducksie's exemplary and amazing Public Health Nurse, Trish, would visit her at home, sometimes more than was scheduled, to keep the most professional eye on her progress. Suddenly a fourth cancer was identified and despite the efforts of all those wonderful people ducksie was given a prognosis for her final stage. However, she told me she was relieved and that a weight had been taken off her. I last spoke to ducksie just a few hours before she peacefully passed away, in hospital.
I cannot express fully how proud I am to have ducksie in my life. Now I have such beautiful memories, photographs, letters and personal gifts. Because of my failing health I could not visit her near the end of her life nor attend her funeral although I did see the live stream of it. Her death leaves a huge void in my life until we meet again. ttfn ♥
Answers
Loved her for being herself. So sorry to hear of this
23:46 Sun 05th May 2024
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