Geraldine was born on the 29th March 1961. She was the beautiful darling daughter of Billy and Tessie and little sis to John. She grew up in Esh Winning surrounded by close family including cousins, aunties and uncles. She played guitar and sang in mass at the local church. She also played guitar on local radio and worked in the village shop for a few years. Geraldine met Gordon whilst he was in the army in March 1984 in Durham and they were soon married in September 1985. Martin was born in Germany in 1987. After Martin was born we were posted back to the UK to Middle Wallop where Stephanie was born in 1988. We got a dog called Jake. Geraldine spent lots of time training him and he was a fantastic dog, all down to her. In 1991 we moved back to Esh Winning after Gordon left the army, Geraldine loved it there; she was near all of her family, especially her mam and dad. The house had a very big garden which was great because she loved to garden and had the best one on the street. Geraldine raised Stephanie and Martin and worked part time to help save for small things that she loved like a dining table and the flowers for the garden. In 1996 Geraldine’s mam Tessie was very ill and almost died. This was really hard for Geraldine because she loved her mam so much. Thankfully her mam got better but 2 years later her dad died from cancer. She helped care for him during his last days and this paved the way for her to begin a new profession that she seemed destined to do, she became a carer for old people and was fantastic at her job. Gordon was made redundant from his job in 2000 so they looked for a new job. This led the family to Lancashire to a place called Rawtenstall. Geraldine didn’t want to leave her mam and family but was very excited at the prospect of a big change. This was where she got her first job as a carer. All the people she cared for loved her and would always ask to be cared for by her. It was also where she met her best friends. Gordon was offered a job in Coventry but commuted to work every week as to not uproot the family again. This meant that when Martin and Stephanie went to University, Geraldine decided it was time to move again, to Coventry. Shortly after this Geraldine’s mam died suddenly which devastated her. A year later things changed for the better, Geraldine found out that she had a grandchild on the way. She had always wanted grandchildren. She even ran outside to tell the next door neighbour. She did everything for Stephanie and Matthew. She was with Stephanie when Matthew was born in August 2008 and was the first person to see him. She gave up working so she could spend all her time looking after us. It was soon after Matthew was born that Geraldine first showed the signs of being ill. She stumbled on words and eventually lost her voice altogether. She struggled to swallow food and her arms became very weak and painful. Then she started to have a few trips and falls. Her worst fall meant that she had to go to hospital which is where the doctors discovered she was not well. They carried out lots of tests and eventually came to the diagnosis in July 2009 that she had Motor Neurone Disease. The news was a great shock. We had hoped that whatever was wrong, it could be healed but unfortunately it was an illness she could never recover from. However bleak her future looked from now on she was determined to accomplish lifelong ambitions and live her life to the best that she could. One of these ambitions was visiting the place where her idol, St. Bernadette, lived and died, in Lourdes. The doctors and nurses who were looking after Geraldine did not want her to go on the trip and strongly advised against it, but Geraldine knew it was all she wanted to do and her determination won through. The trip was everything she had wanted. It was not only the best 10 days of her illness but her life as well. She did it all with a smile on her face. Geraldine’s condition worsened on her return until she finally succumbed to the illness on 4th November 2009. She will always be remembered for her love of children and all she cared for. We miss her so much. X