Jane Lesley Mainwaring

Jane has been part of my life since I started dating Chris at 16 years old, nearly 25 years ago. I don't really remember the first meeting of "the prospective mother-in-law" which I think means that, in typical Jane fashion, she probably just accepted me into the family fold straight away and I became part of the furniture! I was always amazed by her vast array of skills, from cooking to DIY to sewing to painting. She whipped up lemon meringue pies at a moment's notice, she sewed hundreds of tiny beads onto our bridesmaids dresses during quiet moments on her nursing night shifts, hoicked sofas and boxes helping us move house, and I love looking at the mini art exhibition that is her and Robert's home, displaying all her wonderfully creative and varied (and sometimes crazy!) projects. There are so many memories over nearly 25 years it's hard to pick a handful but some of my stand-outs are: water-skiing behind Jane's speedboat at the timeshare chalet in Scotland (especially one particularly close encounter with a vicious swan we started calling Raving Madeye McSwanton), playing silly games like Balderdash, Flummoxed and the After Eight game, having a good old boogie at any wedding disco, and the time I phoned Jane in a blind panic because the car she had kindly loaned me to go to my university placement broke down the first time I drove it, and a misunderstanding meant I wasn't covered by her or my parents' breakdown cover, so she suggested I pretend to be Jess so that the AA would come and rescue me! She was fearless, tenacious, caring, crazy and a little bit naughty, and I will miss so much about "mummy Jane".