Happy happy birthday!!!!! I hope this day is filled with joy and the knowledge that your children, grandchildren and great grandchildren adore you! I thank God everyday that you have been spared for us for so long, that He made you the amazing person you are and that I have the privilege of being your grand daughter.

I realise that the last couple of weeks have been very hard for all of us, but especially for you. I’m sorry that you have to spend your 83rd birthday in so much pain, but am grateful for the fact that even in your pain and trials you have the energy to laugh and joke about it.

You are an amazing woman. You’ve survived cancer, broken bones, the loss of your husband – which we all thought would be the end of you, the death of most of your brothers and sisters, the death of your beloved and gentle souled son and currently 3 broken vertebrae.

You always have a kind word for anyone who crosses your path, your faith has kept you strong through all these years, you consider yourself to be rich because you have all these people who love you and your zest for life and independence, even at 83, makes you one of the most remarkable woman i know.

I love you, you darling old woman, and i hope that we will share many more jokes, trips to nurseries, secrets, secret coffee dates, cake and tears. You are not only my gran but also my friend. You’ve been right there with me through all the trials I had to go through in life, and I pray that you will be spared to attend my wedding, bake and decorate my wedding cake and see my children,…so they too will have the blessing of knowing you.

Happy birthday Darling

Love

Ruby
xxxxxxx

So my dear chamberian, you are a miss no more. On the one hand I can’t help but feel slightly sad in my heart….yesterday marked the end of an era for us. No longer will it just be the two of us….it’ll be you guys and me. Sort of like our own little version of You, me and DuPre….just not quite so twisted:) But even with that slight little twinge of sadness in my heart, it is overflowing with joy. I am so incredibly happy that you found someone who treats you like the princess you are, who makes your heart beat fast, who sees all your mistakes and loves you because of them.

You were a beautiful bride, and the venue was absolutely gorgeous!! You went to a lot of trouble and did almost everything yourself…well my friend, you did good. Giving your guests little plants as a “thank you” gift was an awesome and totally original idea…and it certainly got a lot of attention. Also, please could you tell me where I can find a Sherry tree??? I’d love to be able to just walk into my garden and pick a glass of sherry.

I couldn’t help but shed a tear as your father walked you down the isle. You stopping at 6 places along the way to get the 6 pieces of your bouquet. Oh and now that we’re on the bouquet…..I was only kidding when I told you to aim for me when throwing the bouquet!!! I didn’t actually want it..but here I am, sitting at home looking at the beautiful flowers I caught. Also, I’m trying to figure out what to do with the fake bling and veil I received as part of my prize.

Thank you for an amazing day! Thank you for being my best friend for so many years and thank you that you’ll be a part of my life for many years to come. And tell that handsome groom of yours that I’m glad to add him to our little circle of trust. Oh, and one little piece of advice before I go…..ENJOY THE HONEYMOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love

Ruby
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My date and IWith the bouquet, fake veil and fake blingThe happy couple opening the dance floorI present Mr & Mrs Best FriendYou may kiss the bride

Well my dearest best friend…I finally found my dress and shoes for your wedding. It’s only taken weeks of stress and searching, but both dress and shoes are perfect. Enclosed, please find pictures of the shoes……the dress I’ll keep a surprise for now.

Love

Ruby
xxxxxx

OK, so there is a little bit of the dress peeking out to wet your appetite

Today my heart is still lying around me in pieces. Generally I cope well with stressful and emotional situations, being an overly rational person, but, unfortunately, death does not fall into this category.

On Sunday afternoon my dearest dad phoned. I knew something was up the moment he said hi. His voice was strained and his generally upbeat mood was noticeably dark. He’s usually the strong one, so he had to deliver the news, Mrs Reindeer died about an hour ago in the hospital……I hardly heard the rest.

Apparently you had been in hospital for two weeks, slowly fading away to the full 25kg you weighed at the time of your death. The parentals didn’t want to tell me before as they knew the result was inevitable and I’d only have been distracted and unable to do anything about it. Ironic isn’t it, how the only thing we never agreed on was the one thing that finally caused your sad and painful death.

You have been a part of my life for 18 years. You were always there to motivate me along the way. You saw potential and helped me to develop it, giving me a gentle push in the general direction of success and encouraging me to fly. During your lifetime you’ve touched so many young people’s lives, showing them what they can accomplish if they only believe and taking little credit for the end result.

You were always quick to laugh, quick to love and quick to share a tear. The influence of your work can be seen everywhere in our little home town, and I pray that this is how you will be remembered. Proud, hard working, loving, caring, strong and full of life, not as a suffering ghost of yourself in hospital.

In a way I’m grateful I didn’t have the opportunity to visit you in hospital. My memory of you will forever be of the wonderful and strong woman I discovered during the years I was fortunate enough to share with you.

I will pray for your husband, daughter and grandchildren. That they may experience peace and comfort in what will surely be a very trying time. Rest in peace Mrs Reindeer, the world will certainly be a whole lot poorer without you.

Love

Ruby

Sunday was your birthday, so Happy Birthday!!! Yes yes, i realise that the letter is a whole two days late, but considering that I spent most of your birthday with you I don’t think you’ll mind:)

On Saturday, as i was sitting down to think and to write something profound and interesting in your birthday card, I realised with a bit of a shock that we’ve been friends for 8 years….8 YEARS!!!! I suppose it doesn’t sound like a hell of a long time to other people, but considering that we only met in our first year at uni…well, it’s a long time. Then again, deep in my heart it feels as if I’ve known you my whole life.

Apart from my family, I don’t think there is another human being on the face of this earth who understands me like you do. You are quick to share my humor, understand my need for both a wild social life and much alone time, to gently tease my weaknesses in ways only you could get away with, to cry with me when my heart breaks and to share loud laughter at every chance. You are the one person who reads me like a book, knowing every look, every smile, every gesture. The one who can spot my doubts a mile away and will set my mind and nerves at ease in such a way that nobody else will even notice.

We lived together for 4 years, and then we had to head off and face the grown up world, each in our own way, and yet we weren’t alone. Each being there for the other, still sharing love, hurt, happiness, fears and experience regardless of the thousands of miles that separated us.

In a way, the last couple of months have been a little hard for me. I’ve been dreading losing you and at the same time I’m thrilled to see you so incredibly happy and in love. I think I was scared that it would be the end of an era for us. You being engaged and all. But as I was sitting there on Sunday with you and your fiance, I realised that rather than losing you our friendship has become ever so much deeper. And ultimately I’ve gained your husband to be as a new friend. He’s not trying to steal you away from me. In fact, he’s still trying to impress me and to let me know that his intentions are pure. He’s a sweet, sweet man, and I’m eternally grateful that he is a part of your life. He makes you happy, any fool can see that.

So here’s to you, my bestest best friend in the whole wide world. I hope that you had an absolutely fantastic day on Sunday, and that the year ahead will simply be amazing! That you will be blessed beyond belief and that this year, which includes your wedding, will be one of the most memorable ones. I love you my chamber and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us.

Love

Ruby
xxxxxxx

The chambers in action