EVER since Debs was diagnosed with incurable cancer five years ago, we knew this day would come.
But that didn’t make the funeral any easier to cope with.
Dame Deborah James was a force of nature, a bright light that refused to dim, says her friend Lizzie Parry
Lizzie says Deborah would have ‘loved every moment of her send-off’
In life, Dame Deborah James was a force of nature, a bright light that refused to dim.
And yesterday it was evident that light will never go out.
I joined hundreds of those closest to her as we laughed and cried and said goodbye.
I still don’t believe she’s really gone but I know my friend would have loved every moment of her send-off.
She’d be annoyed she wasn’t there to enjoy the party and champagne in the sunshine.
Every aspect of her funeral radiated a bit of Debs, from the beautiful Dame Deborah James roses adorning her coffin to the moving eulogy and readings.
And all the way through the moving private service there was a consistent message to hold on to rebellious hope.
To borrow the words of the Rev David Cooke, who led the service, there’s now a hole in this world and it is a Deborah-shaped one.
That hole will never be filled but in her honour do as Debs did — find a life you love, live it to the full, have no regrets.
Remember to check your poo and always, always hold on to rebellious hope.
Hundreds of Deborah’s friends and family gathered for her funeral on Wednesday
