Beautiful, vivacious, glamorous, kind, generous and loving, those are the words that spring to mind when we think of Suzy.  Throughout her life’s journey, people tended to take a shine to Suzy, which is testament to these attributes and her nature.   
Suzy had many friends and Mark and Sam have told me how fortunate they were to grow up in a warm and loving household where dinner parties and social gatherings were a regular occurrence and Suzy was the life and soul of the party.  With her generous nature she loved to host parties and loved to cook wonderful food from all over the world.  There was an inclusive open house feel to their home and Mark & Sam’s friends were always made to feel welcome when Suzy & David threw a party, and their home had a reputation as a warm and safe place to be and have a good time.
Even more importantly, Suzy was a deeply loving, kind and supportive wife, mother and grandma. Suzy could never do enough for her family.
Suzy was born on the beautiful island of Mauritius in a town called Port Louis and lived with her Grandma Nenen. As a schoolgirl, Suzy was one of the smartest in the class and when the time came, Suzy was selected and invited to come to England to undertake a Nursing apprenticeship.
Mark & Sam used to love listening to their mothers’ story of her big adventure, moving to a strange new world, full of excitement and a little trepidation, to seek out and carve a new life for herself in a far-off land, thousands of miles away from her family and friends. Aged 19, it took a lot of strength and character and Suzy often dreamed of returning to the beautiful Island of Mauritius. Suzy recounted in one of her letters to her father (Gaston), she said: “Dad please, I want to come home, I cannot see the sun”. 
On arrival in England, Suzy was taken in by Ghislaine and Lyndsay who took good care of her and helped her find her feet in England before Suzy moved to the Nurses Home in Market Bosworth. Suzy was ever grateful for the love and support they showed her.
And of course, this was the 60’s and oh did Suzy love the 60’s… the new era of freedom, the music, the Beetles, the fashion, the miniskirts and the dancing, yes Suzy loved to dance! Suzy would tell stories of the nights when she and her fellow student nurses would walk into town, in the snow, in miniskirts, to dance all night long at The Palae in Leicester. Many a good night was had at the Palae.
During her time at the Nurses Home, the Matron, Miss Mole, took a shine to Suzy and took her under her wing.  They shared a birthday and, every year on their birthday, the Matron would call Suzy into her office, and they would share a sherry and put the world to rights.  Suzy and Miss Mole would continue to stay in touch by letter until Miss Mole passed away in the 2000’s. 
It was working as a nurse at the Hinkley Hospital that Suzy first met David. David had gone into hospital having broken his leg and has told us of how, on first sight, Suzy had quite literally taken his breath away. After being discharged from hospital, David couldn’t get Suzy out of his mind, and months later David finally asked Suzy out on date. Soon after their first date, Suzy and David fell deeply in love and married in 1974. 
They remained happily married for 50 years and continued to be deeply in love with each other, for in each other they had found their soulmate. In their later years, Suzy would quote Captain Corelli’s Mandolin when talking about David and their love saying: “Those that truly love have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two.”
Alzheimer’s is a truly cruel disease. It will take everything away from someone piece by piece until there is nothing left of the person they were. However, this is not how Suzy will be remembered. We will always remember how Suzy’s kind and happy soul shined through the storm. With her beautiful nature, Suzy continued to be popular with the carers at Field House Care Home as Suzy maintained her caring and sweet manner, right up until that fateful morning when she passed peacefully during a mid-morning nap.
On many occasions Suzy would say: “When I go, I don’t want you to mourn… I have lived a wonderful life, having found David and with everything we built together, we have been truly blessed, and so, if I were to die tomorrow, I would die happy”.
So we know that, wherever Suzy is now (probably at a dinner party in heaven, dancing and singing with Auntie Susie, Auntie Cecett, Auntie Marleen and Uncle Joe) that she’ll be smiling down on us with that beautiful infectious smile that Suzy had, and she will be at peace and happy, both for the life that she lived and for her loved ones, as they go on to honour her.