Friend Indeed

It was Susie that first put me in touch with you. She told me you were very easy to talk to and indeed you were. Over the years we became friends. Turkey was our common interest.
My lasting memory of you is a day at Olu Deniz beach. The waves were coming in thick and fast and the sea was quite rough. What did you do? You grabbed my hand and together we ran towards the next wave which promptly took me off my feet and rolled me at the waters edge until I truely thought I was about to drown. I was gasping for air but that sea just kept rolling me over and over. Then for a split second it stopped and I managed to gasp some air and get my head out of the water, it was then that you lost your balance and fell on top of me so that the sea took me and rolled me around at the waters edge again. This time it didn't last long and when I managed to get to my feet I noticed about 4 men running towards us getting ready to rescue me. I was quite shaken up at the time but you thought it was hilarious. You decided it was time to run at the waves again, but this time you didn't notice the big one coming in and as you turned to run into the sea and then caught sight of the massive wave that was about to engulf you, you turned on your heels with a look of sheer horror and tried to run away from it. The look on your face was pure comedy as you tried to scrabble up the slope away from the wave then BOSH!!!!! It rose above your head and knocked you over. Luckily you were ok, but even you then decided the sea was getting too rough to run at the waves.

Throughout your life you have fought a lot of personal demons and bravely conquered them. Despite having days when you could have quite happily stayed in bed, you struggled out of it and got yourself a little voluntary job at a charity shop.

I don't think you ever lost your sense of fun. Always laughing at some ridiculous thing. You used to bop along to Groove Armada or your favorite ska records. You also gave very wise advise, always pointing out a different perspective.

I know that when you finally got your diagnosis you were terrified, but instead of giving in to your fear you laughed at the same ridiculous things. Only last week you were laughing at the fact that you had been given Ketamine (horse tranquiliser, as you referred to it) to control your pain and joked that you had always said you were built like a horse.

I am glad that I saw you for one final time, you had finally realised that so many people loved you for who you were. Once someone met you, you left a lasting impression which made people want to stay in touch with you.

A lot of people are going to miss you Kay. May you frollick in the waves of Olu Deniz forever.