Lovely lady

I had the shock of my life today. I spent the afternoon recording a little demo of the passage Arnold Wesker is going to be singing in the Requiem recording. It's actually a setting of the words written on his mother's grave. I sent it off, and he immediately replied to say what a beautiful tune I'd written and that the words could equally be about his darling daughter, Tanya... Who died on May Day.  My blood immediately ran cold. I know Tanya. I knew her. She was due to come to our Eurovision party on Saturday. She was a reader of this blog and a great supporter of the requiem. She'd even tried to help us find funders.  It was all on her Facebook page. She'd died very suddenly at work. Some kind of embolism. She was a truly wonderful woman. Kind. Loyal. A great supporter of all things good. Arnold was right. The words written on his mother's gravestone could so equally apply to her.  "She lived passionately. Fought for right endlessly. Loved family and friends dearly."  In his last email of the day, Nold told me something I will always hold dear. "She so admired you, Ben." And I admired her. I'm so sad she's no longer with us and I promise to do my very best to gain even more of her admiration. Wherever she is.  Rest in peace, lovely lady.