I wanted to do the service myself; crazy idea maybe but hey, what do you expect...
Entry Music – Wildwood by Paul Weller
High tide - mid afternoon
People fly by in the traffics boom
Knowing - where you're blowing
Getting to where you should be going.
Don't let them get you down
Making you feel guilty about
Golden rain bring you riches
All the good things - you deserve now.
Climbing forever trying
Find your way out - of the wild wild wood
Now there's no justice
There's only yourself - that you can trust in
And I said - high tide mid afternoon
People fly by in the traffics boom
Knowing - just where you're blowing
Getting to where you should be going.
Day by day your world fades away
Waiting to feel - all the dreams that say
Golden rain will bring you riches
All the good things - you deserve now - and I say
Climbing forever trying
Find your way out - of the wild wild wood
Welcome
Welcome, it is good to see you all; thank you for coming to this celebration of the awesome person that was Juni. This morning we look back in happiness and love... (please be seated)
Opening Words
My dearest was loved by so many people; many of whom are here today, including of course our two beautiful daughters; Khally and Keshia. But because of the 11000 miles separating us many friends can not be with us but have sent word that they are using this time to raise a glass in memory and join us in spirit.
Juni was born in 1960 in Tasmania, a wonderful little island nestled under mainland Australia. An island she realised she was more and more fond of as the years went by. Daphne, her mother is from England, travelling out to Australasia after the war. Juni's father, Kalju (and I can still hear her admonishing my Derbyshire accent's inability to say the vowel sounds correctly) was a refugee from Estonia who had to flee the Russians after the war. The coming together of two cultures on a distant continent was to meld Juni into the wonderful person she was. Juni has a younger brother Tony whom I had the pleasure to get to know once we were married, I spare a thought for Daphne and Tony who were unable to make the trip over but who are at this moment thinking of Juni.
Also hailing from Tassie is the Speed family, Juni's other household when she was growing up and part of our 'extended family'. Juni was so lucky to have Anne and 'Wick' in her life as she grew up and I have heard countless stories of Juni's teenage exploits with Tamara and her brother Anthony. The girls and I are lucky the Speeds have accepted us into their family as well and while Tam is able to be here with us I send a thought out to Anne, Anthony and his partner Paul who are joining us in spirit from the land down under.
Juni came to England in the 1980's on her 'traditional' Aussie work one's way around the world spreading the love of Vegemite trip. She was working at the first school I got a job at in the mid eighties. Corny as it sounds it was 'love at first sight' and after I put my hand on her knee at a school staff party we never looked back. Indeed from that night onwards I didn't move out, and we were engaged a crazily short amount of time after. Since that point we have had a continent hopping lifestyle, dragging our two daughters (and now Tom) as well as our other family member 'Joey' the dog, behind us. One UK based constant in all this has been Juni's dear friend Liz who had to put up with sharing a house with us (and baby Khally) for quite some while and then even more amazingly wanted to keep on seeing us after we moved out!
But it wasn't all about traipsing over the globe, family and surfboards (Juni did put up with a LOT in this regard) in tow. Juni was a dedicated teacher for all of her adult life and she made a difference to hundreds of people's lives in Australia, Asia and England - both students and working colleagues alike. She was always seen to be 'strict but fair', but for any class and TA lucky enough to have her as their teacher they always remember her as 'fun'. I know she passed this ethos on to the younger teachers whom she helped as they embarked on their teaching career. Many became part of our extended family also (I often feel I have an extra four daughters/sisters) and I tried my hardest to put the balance back in the force of the universe by showing them you don't HAVE to work all hours; but ultimately I suspect I failed.
Juni loved creating things, whether it was a new lesson, a new part of her garden, her jewellery, knit-wear, drawing, or making quilts; she always had a multitude of projects on the go and it is lovely to think these Juni creations are living on around the world. She loved cooking and creating in the kitchen and while this was somewhat lost on someone whose favourite meal is beans on toast (she forgave me in the end) many people have benefited from her advice and actual food over the years, not the least of which of course are Khally and Keshia. On the subject of food, Juni has been veggie since the 80's and this was linked to her love of animals and nature (so long as it stayed in its rightful spot when it came to creepy crawlies). Water has always figured highly in our family's life, Juni was never happier than when she was next to the water, whether this was the sea, river or even the canal which she grew to love during the splendid times we had with our dear friend Chris and her hubby Peter (and Winston the dog of course) up in Audlem. Obviously though the sea figured highly and while I could never get her into the surf with me unless the water was as warm as a bath Juni would spend hours watching the waves, something made easier when at her family 'cottage' on Park Beach. If she couldn't be near the water Juni wanted to be in her garden, a wild natural looking place which in fact was meticulously planned out and packed full of native plants and flowers which left hardly a month without something happening. Juni was the first to offer to help people with there gardens, again often taking me along as the hired muscle.
Juni could spend hours wandering around old houses and castles imagining what had gone on. Luckily I could often outsource the accompanying duties to Khally and Liz while playing the part of the obedient chauffeur who wouldn't admit that they often found it intriguing too. However, I am sure while she was imagining some romantic encounter between lovers torn apart by custom or family I was imagining some sword wielding scoundrel fighting off the local minions. People often seem to use Juni and I as a prime example of how opposites attract; I see us as being a prime example of how soul mates attract...
Juni loved all kinds of music and fashion as the shelves of records and cds as well as the wardrobes of retro clothes can attest to. Anyone who has been present during our karaoke sessions will have vivid memories of Juni's renditions of songs, so good that they hopefully drown any memories they may have of my attempts to join in! I have been dragged along to countless Paul Weller and Echo and the Bunnymen concerts and I remember fondly Juni's transformation into 'teeny bopper fan-girl' which accompanied every gig, luckily I could often pass the gig experience onto Liz and from what I saw they could hold their own in any crowd!
Of course as wonderful and as awesome a wife as Juni was she was equally talented at being a 'mum', in fact on our fridge is a postcard declaring. “OMG my mother was right about EVERYTHING' bought by Khally I often wanted to add /wife to the caption. So I now leave you for a while in the capable hands of my two daughters...
Keshia
Khally and I have been so lucky to have Mum as the most important woman i
our lives. She has influenced us in unimaginable ways, and is the best, most
admirable role model we could wish for.
Together with Dad, Mum shaped every aspect of my life. My partner Tom once
said he's never met anybody so influenced by their parents. Mum and Dad really
are the source of all my inspirations and influences.
When I think of Mum I think of her gentle and kind persona and her special
sense of style, but most of all her beautiful and infectious laugh and sense of
humour. I always felt lucky growing up, that I had 'groovy' parents who didn't
really ever enforce strict curfews and rules, and who let us make our own
decisions. But because we were so loved and well brought up we often made the
decisions they hoped we would anyway!
I often turned to mum for advice – for a little window into her wisdom, and we
can't imagine life without her. I do however realise that she is still alive around
us; she lives in the children she taught, the plants she grew, the smile she
passed on to others around her. She lives in her creations (knitted, jewellery,
recipes) She lives in the young women she shaped in Khally and I, and she lives
through the life and the love shared with Dad.
The more I grow up the more I realise that Mum really was always right, I
wished I had always known that! Also, the more I grow up, the more I realise
how much I am like Mum. Which often people laugh at. Even if it wasn't
necessarily intentional as I've grown up (just in my genes I suppose!), I will
now do whatever I can to be as an incredible woman as Mum
Khally
I dont have the words to do justice to Mum or to explain just how much we will all miss her. Mum was the kindest, craziest most unique person I will ever know and I will miss her every day.
It is only as you get older that you appreciate everything that your parents do for you from the big things to the small everyday things that's it easy to take for granted. My mum taught me how to be myself (even if that's not who people expect you to be), how to appreciate art and history, how to be the hostess with the mostess, how to enjoy karaoke (even if you can't sing) and never to wear pattern with pattern. But most importantly she taught me how to be a good person. She lead by example and showed me how to work hard, how to go out your way to help people, how to be generous and charitable and to do everything you can do to look after the friends and family that you love.
Mum wouldn't have wanted us to be sad today but it is hard to be happy as the universe is worse off without her but I know that she won't be forgotten and some of you will miss her just as much as I do. My mum was always full of energy, always looking for a new challenge or adventure, and you certainly knew she was present in a room. Instead of holding a minutes silence I'd like to ask everyone to take this opportunity to clap and cheer and show a bit of appreciation so that just in case she is out there somewhere she'll know how much we love her and miss her.
I'd now like to play the song that I always said was 'our song' although this normally got me told, 'not to be such a soppy dick'... Please use this time to reflect on how Juni touched your life and remember the happy times.
Better Together by Jack Johnson
There is no combination of words I could put on the back of a postcard
No song that I could sing, but I can try for your heart
Our dreams, and they are made out of real things
Like a, shoebox of photographs
With sepia-toned loving
Love is the answer,
At least for most of the questions in my heart
Like why are we here? And where do we go?
And how come it's so hard?
It's not always easy and
Sometimes life can be deceiving
I'll tell you one thing, it's always better when we're together
Mmm, it's always better when we're together
Yeah, we'll look at the stars when we're together
Well, it's always better when we're together
Yeah, it's always better when we're together
And all of these moments
Just might find their way into my dreams tonight
But I know that they'll be gone
When the morning light sings
And brings new things
For tomorrow night you see
That they'll be gone too
Too many things I have to do
But if all of these dreams might find their way
Into my day to day scene
I'd be under the impression
I was somewhere in between
With only two
Just me and you
Not so many things we got to do
Or places we got to be
We'll sit beneath the mango tree now
Yeah, it's always better when we're together
Mmm, we're somewhere in between together
Well, it's always better when we're together
Yeah, it's always better when we're together
Mmm, mmm, mmm
I believe in memories
They look so, so pretty when I sleep
Hey now, and when I wake up,
You look so pretty sleeping next to me
But there is not enough time,
And there is no, no song I could sing
And there is no combination of words I could say
But I will still tell you one thing
We're better together
We'd like to thank you all for coming this morning... Juni loved so many people and looking out over you all I can see the feeling was mutual, which makes it a lot easier for us to get through this time and helps to restore the balance. All I can ask is occasionally you have a thought and a giggle 'with' Juni -possibly over a dubious shaped ice cream! The next song is the one Juni always said she wanted at such an occasion – you may want to get the hankies out though...
We walk forward and out followed by the crowd as the music plays.
Exit Music – Nothing ever lasts forever – Echo and the Bunnymen
I want it now
I want it now
Not the promises of what tomorrow brings
I need to live in dreams today
I'm tired of the song that sorrow sings
And I want more than I can get
Just trying to, trying to, trying to forget
I'd walk to you through rings of fire
And never let you know the way I feel
Under skin is where I hide
The love that always gets me on my knees
And I want more than I can get
Just trying to, trying to, trying to forget
Nothing ever lasts forever
Nothing ever lasts forever
Nothing ever lasts forever
Nothing ever lasts forever
I want it now
I want it now
Don't tell me that my ship is coming in
Nothing comes to those who wait
Time's running out the door you're running in
So, I want more than I can get
Just trying to, trying to, trying to forget
Nothing ever lasts forer
Nothing ever lasts forever
Nothing ever lasts forever
Nothing ever lasts forever
All the shadows and the pain
Are coming to you
All the shadows and the pain
Are coming to you
All the shadows and the pain
Are coming to you
All the shadows and the pain
Are coming to you
All the shadows and the pain
Are coming to you
All the shadows and the pain
Are coming to you
All the shadows and the pain
Are coming to you