Jenny Taylor

It’s taken a few weeks before I’ve felt ready to write anything here - and I’m not sure if I am really ready! This strange time has been made all the stranger and sadder with the loss of dear Jenny. Not being able to gather with others who loved and respected her, to grieve, hug, share stories, laugh and cry is making the loss so much harder to process. I hope we will still be able to do that at some point, but for now, I share my ‘piece’ for this page. There are just some special people in this world who make an impact so large that it’s hard to adequately express it with words. Jenny was (and still is) one of those people to me and to my family. Jenny burst into our lives about 16 years ago when we made the radical decision to send our children to the school she headed up. I confess I was a little nervous about the choice. I mean ‘a Christian School’ – was it all going to be bible stories and singing Kumbaya every day?!! I didn’t completely object to either of those activities, but the education of our children was going to involve a lot more than that! Upon reading a glowing HMI inspection report and email communicating with Jenny herself I was put at ease. Little did I know that these first emails would lead to a friendship that would shape my life and the life of my family. That small school which Jenny ran, with a professionalism I’ve rarely seen anywhere else, would be the seedbed of growth and fruit in my girls lives the like of which I could only have dreamed of. This space of course is not primarily about Regius. But for those who knew Jenny during the 20 plus years she headed up the school, you will understand that Regius WAS synonymous with her. She carried such a vision and burning passion for the school, and what it meant to the children and families who went there, it was hard to talk to her without the subject turning to the school and what her latest project or revelation about it was. Jenny had an uncanny ability to really ‘see’ the children who came to her and I trusted her implicitly with my two girls. Her insights and input into their lives is still bearing fruit today. Both considered her as a mentor, a dear friend and someone who championed them and cheered them on. Even in her final days she was in communication with them, encouraging them and so delighted to hear about what they were doing. I had the privilege of knowing Jenny in a variety of ‘capacities’. Initially as the Head Teacher of the school and church friend, then in a closer friendship, for a while she was my ‘boss’ when I worked in administration and classroom assistant duties at the school, and finally the main place she held was pretty much as ‘part of the family’! Someone so dear, so easy to be with and so cherished that we all got excited when we knew she was going to visit. I loved Jenny. It’s as simple as that. I loved her way of being totally honest and unfiltered, even when she sometimes said things I’d rather not hear!! I loved her faith in God and how she talked about him - how seamless it was for her to move between the spiritual and the natural and how she wouldn’t actually see any difference between the two. I loved how she would ‘see me’ and seemed to just know when something was up, even when I was doing my best to hide it. I loved how she would listen and always be interested and happy to offer support, a wise word or a prayer. I loved how naughty she was and how sharp her wit and banter was. I can still hear that laugh of hers and it makes me smile. I loved how we could talk and talk and never seem to run out of subjects! Jenny lived an incredibly full and meaningful life and I had the greatest of respect for her. She is a women who most definitely has left a legacy. Her legacy is in her biological children, whom she so loved and enjoyed talking about with me, and of course her legacy also lives on in the many Regius children who sat under her headship. I also like to think something of her legacy lives on in people like me, friends who had the privilege of spending time with her, hearing the words of encouragement and wisdom she so easily dispensed. I learned so much from her. I learned about the importance of ‘having a word’ to live by, a sense of purpose and destiny, about having ‘no plan B’ and giving your all to the ‘Plan A’ in your life.....I could go on, but suffice to say the ‘Jenny lessons’ will live on with me for the rest of my days! The ache of loss is still with me and will be for some time I suspect. I still can’t fathom a world without Jenny in it. I see her smile, hear her voice and feel her presence still and it gives me comfort. I’m so glad I got that final visit with her.....and in the midst of the laughter I was able to stop and say ‘I’m sure I’ve said this Jenny....but I want to say it again... thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!!’ It was a moment of meaning and understanding between us as I looked deep into her eyes. We’d said everything we needed to say and I could say goodbye. Jenny - my life has been irrevocably changed by having you in it. Thank you, doesn’t do it justice. I miss you so much and I do look forward to seeing you again ‘on the other side’! Till then I’ll do my best to live in a way that is honest and true to who God has made me to be – I promise!! xxx