Tribute - Christine Harrington Thank you for attending the celebration of Christine’s life. The name Christine came from her mother, Christina. Christine means follower of Christ. Christine was also born in December, on Saturday 24th. The ‘H’ represents her married name, Harrington and her maiden name, Hockey. Christine was a true Hockey; she was independent, strong willed, knew what she wanted and would not suffer fools gladly. If she did not like you, she would tell you to your face. The ‘R’ stands for Royalty. Christine grew up in war torn London – imagine having to live through that as a child – not knowing if a bomb would go off at any moment. Where Christine was living with her family, a German rocket did actually fall onto the house, but thankfully it did not explode. In 1952, Christine would have been 20 at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. After rationing had ended, I am hopeful that Christine had an enjoyable and happy life in the fifties; growing up near Hyde Park and Kensington Palace. Mum had extensive Royal memorabilia; she loved Princess Diana and had firm views on events that took place around that time. ‘I’ is for interests. Mum was very family orientated. She kept the family together despite going through quite rough times in the late seventies and eighties. She was a great mother to us all – I remember the delicious Sunday lunches she cooked for us and how she enjoyed making Christmas such a special event for the family. She was a regular visitor to Essentials hair salon in Surbiton and always went out of her way to look impeccably stylish. Christine was a big fan of Estee Lauder too. She was very elegant and had lovely, tasteful clothes. ‘S’ is for sun. She liked her holidays. When we were little children, we would visit English resorts, such as Bexhill or Broadstairs. Many years later we visited Mallorca and Greece. In the late nineties, Christine frequently visited the Canary Islands, either by herself, or with her dear late sister. She was a definite sun worshipper and I remember fondly the pink sun lounger she had in her back garden at Thames Ditton. ‘T’ is for tea. Christine absolutely loved drinking tea – and was the only person I knew that would drink it whilst it was scorching hot. There are many fond memories of Christine baking a cake for us, or after school, when we’d return home to a plate of sandwiches and a refreshing cup of tea. ‘N’ is for nanny. After the divorce, Christine went on to work for several years for Mrs Kilner and her family, nearby in Thames Ditton. Mrs Kilner wrote to us recently and said “Christine was a wonderful person, generous, glamourous, kind and wonderful with my children. She was devoted to us and very proud of us all.” ‘E’ is for eternal love. I lived with Mum for my first 35 years of life - I had a strong mother and son bond with her. She was indeed my best friend and I love her as much now as I did back then. I used to try and speak to her every day, but when the dreaded ‘D word’ disease took over, I kept my visits to a weekly basis and had to keep to light, positive chat, so as not to disturb her. I do not want to dwell on the period that followed. I just want to say thank you to the carers, doctors and nurses that gave their love to mum and allowed her final years to be, in our view, relatively comfortable. To my darling mother, all she ever wanted was to be loved.

A wise old owl lived in an oak The more he saw the less he spoke The less he spoke the more he heard Why can't we all be like that wise old bird? Thank you Ann for letting me know my mum used to recite this.

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