When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.

When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear.

When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.

Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken.

Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their
radiance,
fall away.

We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the
unutterable ignorance
of dark, cold caves.

And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.

Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed.

You find the perfect pebble
Among the millions at your feet
the perfect colour and shape
So you stick it in your pocket

Just the right amount of
shine or stripes or glitter
feeling just right to your touch
As you feel it in your pocket

“Look at this one!” you explain
describing, in detail, why you love it
your joy it doubled as you share
why you’re putting it in your pocket

I just feel lucky to be
worthy of being
A pebble in your pocket. 

When I gave Suzy that poem her response was:
“You don’t need to worry about being worthy.
I was lucky to find you.
You’re a boulder in my bag”
Which I thought was a bit cheeky.

Suzy was Born in Bishops Stortford on Thursday 17th December 1970. 

It wasn’t a simple birth and Suzy suffered from Brachial plexus where the tendons & nerves were torn in one shoulder while the other arm was broken. So as a Baby she was put into plaster for the first 5 weeks. Despite this she was a very happy baby and was always smiling.

When Suzy was 2 years old Nicholas arrived on the scene…
Anything Suzy did Nicholas wanted to do as well. When Suzy was 9 she started to play the trumpet, so Nicholas wanted to play a musical instrument too. With Suzy on trumpet & Nicholas on trombone they would go everywhere together playing concerts and going to band camp through their teenage years.
Suzy especially liked to embarrass her little brother taking him into the 6th form girls common room after rehearsals.

I met Suzy aged 8 at Underhill Junior School in Barnet.
She used to call me “Chocolate buttons” because the buttons on my shorts looked like the sweets.
In the field we would play kiss chase, even though she was a much faster than me, Suzy would slow down so I could catch her. Then not knowing how to deal with the situation I would give her a kick instead of a kiss. She never let me forget this.
Also in junior school Suzy was repeatedly practising her signature on the back of her workbooks as “Suzy Bishop”.
So I think from a young age she either had a plan or had foreseen the future.

Music brought Suzy’s enormous joy.
Aged 9 Suzy was given her first trumpet by Mr Ruby, who was always her favourite teacher.
She was a natural and quickly rose to grade 8.
She performed with the national children’s wind orchestra of Great Britain
Suzy’s music meant she would venture to QE Boys school to play in the orchestra.  Some of the original band are here today. She played as 1st trumpet, Stuart was 3rd trumpet and Ade played violin.
We didn’t get many girls in the Boys school so having Suzy certainly turned many heads. Including mine.
Suzy played many London venues, The Festival Hall, and in the final of the national schools Brass band competition at the Albert Hall.

I first asked Suzy out at a disco in the Old Elizabethans Rugby Club.
She rejected me.
Probably because I was in fishnet stockings, high heels and wearing one of my Mums dresses.

But I did not give up.
I hatched a plan to ask again at Louise, Ali Waterman & Kate Wass’s 18th Birthday party in Cuffley.
I borrowed one of my brother’s blazers, bought some flowers and then plucked up the courage to ask again.
This time she said YES.

Our first date was lunch in Wendy’s Burger – Which is now the Barnet Cafe just over the road from where we are now.
After we walked up barnet highstreet,  as we passed a Wedding Photographers Suzy Said, “When we get married I don’t want pictures like that.”
Which she was very embarrassed about at the time, but with hindsight this was all part of her plan.

Suzy had many nicknames over her life.
Sausage
Suzy Poosy
Poosy Lezzer Fartin
Fartin Martin
Suzy Lucy Lastic Knickers
And for a few special people that could get away with it.
Suzy Big Tits.

Suzy had loads of jobs over the years. So much so that Nicholas used to call her Mr Ben as she seemed to have a different work uniform every week.

In Barnet alone she worked in Wilkinsons Chemist, Boots, Robinsons Delicatessen, The Mitre, The Two Brewers, The Old Windmill, The Weavers, Pizza Express, Tamarisk Trust Care Home & British Gas

In 1991 I was working with Paul Starr in Old Orleans in Hampstead. Suzy came to an independence day party where she met Deborah. By the end of the night they were dancing on the tables together and Suzy had found her closest friend in the world. Even though Deb lives in Melbourne they friendship was still as strong as ever.

Suzy followed her passion to do a degree in Music and went to King Alfred’s College in Winchester.
This did not go to plan as her teachers insisted that she play piano when Suzy’s connection to music was through her mouth and lips and not her fingers.
Instead of dropping out she changed her degree to a teaching degree.
Then after a year of teaching she realised that she hated children, teaching them anyway, so transferred all her credits to a Media degree. And against all the odds came away getting her degree.
This just showed Suzy’s amazing ability to navigate any difficult situation to get the best outcome.

When we finished our degrees I went off travelling to Australia.
After 6 months arriving in Sydney I realised that Life was much better with Suzy so I asked her to join me.
She agreed and within weeks was on a plane.
Suzy worked at Westpak Bank, as a care worker and then as an event organiser.
This company valued Suzy so highly they offered sponsoring us both so we could live in Australia permanently.
We did discuss this but Suzy loved her family and friends so much that she could not be on the other side of the world from them.

We then travelled back to the UK through Thailand, Nepal and India.
Everywhere we travelled we gathered an entourage of followers who would travel along with us as they knew that being around us was alway eventful. 

In the UK Suzy realised that she was a great carer & liked working with adults with learning difficulties.
So she started training & working as a social worker, doing an MA in social work at the University of North London.
Here she met Kevin & Kerry and as the three musketeers kept each other sane during that incredibly difficult course.

On Christmas Eve 1998 after a skin full in the Monken Holt Suzy got me home stripped me off and sat on my chest.
“I am sick of waiting Bradley Bishop, Will you Marry me?”
I said “yes, of course” 

In the Morning I woke and she was already awake & was looking at me. “Do you remember what you said to me last night?”
And 8 months later we were married.

We were then blessed with the arrival of Joe & Jessica.
Suzy was a loving and devoted Mother.
And I know Suzy is so proud of them.

When Joe was little Suzy was looking for something to give her focus So she followed her keen interest in plants and enrolled on a horticultural course at Capel manor where she met Louise Gordon-Hume. They hit it off instantly & Louise introduced Suzy to the Choir – Hertfordshire Chorus.

When Jessica was born Suzy did not want to stop her studies so Carol used to go along to the course each week, so she could look after Jessica while Suzy was in lessons.

After having 2 children Suzy wanted to get into shape so started Hertford Bootcamp.
So while doing press ups, in the field, in the snow, at 6 in the morning Suzy met Tanya & they became great friends.
Tanya & Charles brought Suzy into their congregation and Suzy took great strength from her faith.
I will always be grateful to them for helping her find her religion and to Charles for Baptising her.   

In September 2017 Suzy was diagnosed with Cancer.
She lived with cancer with amazing strength and positivity, never letting the disease dampen her lust for life and her joyous outlook.
It was this disease that finally took Suzy from us but right til the end she was still a joy to be around, even in the darkest of times.

Suzy had so much to give and such a zest for life.
She was an amazing wife, a loving mum & a true friend and she leaves us with thousands of happy memories.
We shall never forget her contagious laughter, her radiant smile and her wonderful sense of humour.
She was able to find beauty wherever she looked in people, places and things.
She was such a special, amazing person who will forever be an inspiration to us all. 

Suzy’s positive energy, her kindness, her bottomless ability to love and her beautiful character will live on in Joe & Jessica, of whom she was so proud.

As I looked through the tens of thousands of pictures we had taken together I wondered how many times I had said I LOVE YOU and if i had said it enough.
Yes I did. 
But I just want to say it one more time.
I love you Suzy Bishop.

¹³ But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as
others do who have no hope. ¹⁴ For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will
bring with him those who have fallen asleep.