Joan

I have a nice family.  I don't mean that most of the family members are nice with one or two 'black sheep', like most families.  I mean that every member of my family, without exception, is nice.  And the lodestar for niceness on my Dad's side of the family has always been my Auntie Joan.

Joan died recently.  She was 92 and died peacefully at home.  She was one of the kindest women you could ever hope to meet, and lived her life with dignity and love.  She was not a prude at all and never showed anger, but we all grew up knowing that, when we were in her company, we didn't misbehave, swear or do anything that could possibly disappoint her.  My Dad would wind her up regularly with one of his (many) humorous sayings, "I don't swear, but our Beryl (their sister) is a bugger at it".  This would always be met with a stern, "Stanley!" from Joan and he always knew not to cross the line.

We all loved her and respected her.  And while people say that 92 is a 'good age', her loss will be felt very deeply.  There's now a vacancy for the 'Sydenham lodestar' and, while there's no obvious single candidate to fill it, I suspect we will get by with the collective niceness that Joan developed.