Tuesday 9 February 2010

A year on...

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4 comments:

  1. Dan Cumpsty29 April 2010 at 08:51

    Here is the text of my speech at the funeral:

    Matt:

    We’ll remember his booming laugh, not to mention fantastic bouncy dancing;
    We’ll remember him smiling and enjoying the moment;
    We’ll remember that he extracted every last drop of juice from life and never left while there was wine in the bottle;
    We’ll remember his ability as an orator and encyclopedic knowledge of all that interested him;
    We’ll remember his opinions, which he had on almost anything;
    We’ll remember him saying "Ello darlin" in that voice of his;
    We’ll remember his broad smile and great stories;
    We’ll remember that he was fiercely untidy;
    We’ll remember that he would cook delicious meals more slowly than anybody had previously known was possible;
    We’ll remember that he would generate more washing up when cooking than anyone had previously known was possible;
    We’ll remember that huge photo of Nansi's smiling face that we all received by e-mail when he met under which was written "isn’t she lovely?”
    We’ll remember his love of physical activity which included, at various times of his life, imming, rugby, martial arts and more recently sword fighting and how much it gave him confidence;
    We’ll remember him as an enthusiastic party-goer;
    We’ll remember his intelligence and wit;
    We’ll remember Matt’s sayings, my favorite being “There are only two quantities in life: too much and too little. I know which one I prefer”;
    We’ll remember losing at Monopoly whilst on his team;
    We’ll remember how good he was as a teacher and how eager he was to be taught;
    We’ll remember how good he was with children;
    We’ll remember him playing cops and robbers from the time I met him at 2 years old right up to married life with Nansi and Matt shooting at each other and doing commando rolls whilst camping in the New Forest;
    We’ll remember him as a devoted father, really enjoying baby Abigail;
    We’ll remember his enjoyment of travel and trying new things;
    We’ll remember that he always won the Cornflakes Packet game;
    We’ll remember his nice feet;
    We’ll remember how he could at turns look like a tramp or a statesman;
    We’ll remember how he laughed at our jokes – good or bad;
    We’ll remember his huge hand gestures;
    We’ll remember how happy he made Nansi;
    We’ll remember that he once thought that smashing bottles in the garden would actually help calm people down;
    We’ll remember his funny forelock dreadlocks and his dreadful tartan jacket in the early 90’s;
    We’ll remember his talent as an actor and how enthusiastically and diligently he always researched and prepared for roles;
    We’ll remember the residue of Matt after every dinner party: a bunch of keys, money, and a mobile phone;
    We’ll remember that even people who met Matt for the first time were moved by how friendly and easy to talk to he was;
    We’ll remember his "spare" glasses - a pair of milk bottles held together by band-aids and hope;
    We’ll remember him as a passionate, creative and beautiful man;
    We’ll remember him spinning round the dance floor like a tornado;
    We’ll remember him as a very good swordsman, and a fiercely loyal member of his sword fighting group;
    We’ll remember him as someone to be very very proud of;
    We’ll remember him calling Dorothy on the telephone: “Mum, I have met the girl I am going to marry” and Dorothy saying “and what does she say” to which Matt replied “I haven’t asked her out yet!”;
    We'll remember that he really cared about justice in the world and shared and articulated this so well to others;
    We’ll remember a man without enemies and ready to stand up for his friends;
    We’ll remember Matt’s determination to “do in life only what you really want to do”;
    We’ll remember his total happiness with his lot prior to his death;
    We’ll remember him as my best man, best friend, and the loveliest man I have ever known.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dorothy29 April 2010 at 12:31

    Dan, that is lovely and has made me cry again
    Dorothy

    ReplyDelete
  3. kleedham13 May 2010 at 06:14

    Dan, I don't know how you managed to read that. It's as if he's here again when I read it. Kxx

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dan Cumpsty14 May 2010 at 03:19

    It's hard. My memories of him are just so strong. He's still with me.

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