20 Comments

My sincere condolences :-(

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Thank you, Paul.

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This is a beautiful post, Louise. I’m so glad you mentioned the sweet by and by, that was one of my grandmother’s favorites and I instantly thought of her when I saw the title of this essay. Much love to you, this was a meaningful tribute ❤️

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Thanks, Reda. Glad it brought back good memories. ❤️

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So sorry to hear about your friend B, Louise. My heart hurts for you. How wonderful that you two found each other, made rich memories, and those memories stay in and with us. "Don't you cry."

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Keeping a stiff upper lip. There will be moments, though, when that lump catches in the throat… Thank you for the kind thoughts, Mmerikani.

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Sending condolences, Louise.

I'm glad those empowering words came to you.

Still, losing one's best friend is hard. Take good care.

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Thank you, Diana. Doing ok here. Don’t like the void. ❤️‍🩹

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My first time to hear this. I had no idea Chumbawumba was capable of such a tender reflective song. The only song of theirs I'd ever heard was the one about being falling down drunk. Liked the reference to "Joe Hill" at the end.

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Hi, Tom. Yeah, most of their music was in-your-face social statement or something like it. This one is such a contrast to their usualfare and quite lovely.

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Condolences to you, Louise. This is a beautiful post and tribute and all of us can relate to it. Take good care.

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Thanks, Heidi. You’ve been through this recently as well. ❤️‍🩹🐾

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It’s always a rough passage. I hope that you feel a lot support during this time.:)

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Thanks. It’s funny. I so much support from my Substack community. It’s very comforting❣️

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This is an utterly beautiful post. I am so very sorry about your friend.

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My husband died several months ago. Joe Hill was his favorite song so it was played at his memorial

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Sorry to read about your husband, Liz. He had good taste in songs. ❤️‍🩹

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I'm so sorry such sad news Louise, I would be standing on your doorstep to offer my shoulder and a bottle of wine to drown sorrows and reminisce over if I lived closer...as it is know I am thinking of you from afar, know that I know this sadness.

I lost my oldest and dearest friend to cancer in 2021, she is never far from my thoughts still.

Sending love and courage and a few gentle bleats of commiseration from my woolly ones too. xxx

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Thank you, Susie. That night, we opened a bottle of Shiraz that she had sent us months ago and made a toast to her. Seemed appropriate. Life goes on. The void will still be there, but carry on we must. ❤️‍🩹

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Life does… and thank goodness! xx

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