Signe Green 1929-2008

Mum

When I tried to think about how to describe mum, I thought about what made a person who they were, and it came down to several things – what they loved and hated, how they acted and how people felt about them.

In the summer Mum loved being outside in the garden, relaxed and content looking at the flowers, birds and butterflies, or tending it and making it lovely. She enjoyed walking in the forest or by the reservoir with the dogs and with the family. She also loved to spend time quietly reading, doing a jigsaw or a crossword puzzle, but always ready to drop whatever she was doing to chat to someone close by.

Almost as much as relaxing, mum liked working outside in the nursery, growing trees from cuttings and nurturing them to full-grown. Many a time we would drop by and she would be weeding or watering, or moving plants to a better position, and this is one of the strong images of her. I can see her just as clearly with the customers, laughing and chatting in that open way she did.

That was one of mum’s biggest charms. When she was with other people she truly shone. Her face would light up with that huge sunny smile of hers; her laugh would come readily and often. How many times did she ‘nip up the village’ for something, only to come back ages later, having met somebody or other she knew and just had to catch up with!

What other things did she love? Well, she loved exuberant colours. She dressed in them, and surrounded herself with bright splashes of colour in the garden. She loved a glass of wine with good food and a gathering of friends and family. She would always be right there in the centre of things laughing and talking and saying a periodic ‘Skol!’ or ‘Cheers!’ And if people sung, she would be right in there joining in, whether she knew the words or not. She loved to hear people singing.

She loved to travel and see new things, be new places, and would be full of interesting descriptions of her recent holiday destination. When dad was alive, they took their annual holiday trekking round Europe in their big, converted orange van – Two Tonne Tessie, visiting family and friends along the way. These holidays were something special, no holiday now can live up to, and something we children will always value from our childhood!

There wasn’t much mum hated. She certainly didn’t like filling in forms very much, and didn’t like injustice, people doing wrong by others. She was fair, open-minded, honest and kind; considered everyone else in the same generous light, and usually quickly forgave.

Many people associate mum with the strawberry fields during fruit-picking season, or as the night Sister in a local nursing home. Others will think of her busily running her conifer nursery. But whatever the image of her, many will think of her as being a big part of the village.

I will fondly remember evenings with mum knitting, making rugs or doing one of numerous other crafts with dad. I’ll remember her delicious Chelsea buns, or Danish pastries, or trays of sandwiches she’d make for a picnic in the summer, or bring into the living room on a Saturday evening. I’ll remember her lit up and animated whenever she talked to anyone, with her huge smile always close by. I’ll remember her affectionate and caring nature, how readily she would give you a hug, and how her hand was always there to hold when you needed it.

She was one very special person.