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From Stephen McDonagh

Oct. 3rd, 2007

Hello Everyone,
Cousin Peter has told me to be brief, alas no McDonagh in recorded history as ever been brief, it is not a word recorded in our Dictionary. Indeed I had to Google it last night to confirm it did not actually mean "underpants". I will make no rash promises but I will try not to ramble on.

I am sure most of you are wondering who I am, well that is fair because I am wondering who most of you are too. So to get that out of the way I am Stephen McDonagh, son of Donald, Auntie Audrey's Big brother.
I am here not only as myself but at a proxy representative for all the relatives in Ireland and elsewhere in Europe who cannot be with us today. They will each in their own way be joining with us in celebrating the effervescent, unconventional woman that was and always will be my Auntie Audrey.

I came prepared with tales of mystery and suspense. Like the tale of the bucket of crabs collected on the beach by my cousins on a visit to Ireland many many years ago and their accidental release in a hotel room..... or another drama which would not be out of place in the finest soap opera which involved one of the "dragon" nursing sisters alluded to in Auntie Joy's message A dragon that would shortly unbeknownst to either party become Audrey's sister in law and ... my mother.  Why was my mother dressed only in a towel and why did Audrey demand the use of a wireless?.... However those will have to wait for the proper time for such tales, gathered around a kitchen table somewhere in the McDonagh/ Litherland empire with a cup of tea or G&T.

Although distance made the meetings with our Canadian relatives rarer more infrequent than we would have liked. The Irish branch of the family tree looked forward to our get togethers. All our houses had an adequate supply of Gordon's Finest Gin, a bottle of tonic and in my case a list of excuses as to why my garden was not up to the gold standard set by my green fingered aunt. I have to add that the only things I have success growing are moustaches. So as a gardener I leave a lot to be desired but as an aspiring artist Audrey's gardens were, to me, as must a work of art as anything by Turner or Monet.

This "brief" business is harder than i thought it would be!

My parting memory I would like to share is whenever I was a lot smaller than I am now both in height and width. Granny McDonagh would come and stay with us in Coleraine for the summer. When I was just being "me" my father and granny would look heavenward , sigh and say "You know he is just like Audrey". It did not take me long to understand that this was in fact not a bad thing .. not a bad thing at all!

and when I got old enough to understand it fully, I was and am proud to be compared to the free-spirited, unconventional Aunt that lived on the other side of the world, A pride that has doubled  today as I meet you, her friends and share your memories of her.

I wish my Dad was here to say Goodbye, he could do a much better job than I am doing. But I like to think that in the "wherever" that we go to when this life's adventure is over, Dad has just said "Och helloooooooooooo"
to his middle sister
and is now sitting around a kitchen table with his sister and mother having a proper "Irish" cup of tea... why is it you Canadians cannot make good tea? must be something to do with the water......

Perhaps they are sitting watching us on some otherworldly CCTV. Dad is amazed that I not only have a suit but that I am wearing it and look almost presentable. Audrey is hiding her G&T from Granny under the table whilst on the phone to Capability Brown drawing up plans for the improvements to the gardens and Granny McD is complaining that I have not practised a single chromatic chord on the piano for 40 years. Mind you the hot topic for debate in that particular corner of the afterlife is probably "When will Granny McDonagh take her hat off?" On one hand Eternity is a VERY long time on the other Granny is VERY attached to her hat!

To wrap up i would like to paraphrase Irving Berlin... Audrey's song is finished, but her melody lingers on ... and will do in our hearts and around the kitchen tables of her friends and family for a VERY long time.

Thank you for listening .....

.o0 *****************************************************************0o.