YOU will always be Remembered
 
Cicely Maureen Cross better known as Maureen was born 8th July 1933 in Treorchy South Wales. 
She had two brothers & a sister which she outlived them all. 
 
Maureen spent many years as a sickly child & hated wearing metal callipers to adjust her legs & walking. TB was prevalent in the 40’s with Maureen at the age of seventeen becoming extremely ill, spending abouta year in hospital after having part of her lung taken out. 
 
Once recovered she worked as a seamstress in Polycofts in her hometown Treorchy. This proved helpful in later years by making family clothes & teaching her daughter
 
Maureen came to Thetford for a holiday to see her father & met Brian. It was love at first sight. Three months later they were married & remained married for 68 years. 
 
Nine months later Shirley arrived, three years further on Peter arrived. 
 
Brian used go everywhere on his Triumph 650 motorbike with Maureen holding tight sitting on the back, with the kids sitting in the sidecar…behaving themselves!
 
The home was always well kept & as a treat the children would be able to skate around the house with thick dusters on their feet & polish the floor. 
Maureen used her skills – cooking, sewing & cleaning& passed these onto her children for later life.
 
Fun & laughter throughout the years, with lots of socialization & a mixture of jobs to bring in extra money into the household. She loved working at the Coffee Bar where she was able to sing & dance to all the 60’s singles on the duke box, always gyrating her hips to the beat of the music. Even back in February she would swing those hips.
 
Years pasted & Maureen became a grandmother which she loved & dotted on her grandchildren. She was known as Super Gran & Nana Faggot, Oh, & Monster in Law by Francis. She would climb trees with the kids, go Roller Skating & even broke her leg. She would take the kids cycling up to the Base to watch the planes land. She also taught them to sew, knit & darn. 
She cooked lovely Sunday lunches & even taught them how to make Yorkshire puddings. She also looked after them when they were ill in her care.
 
But the downside was she thought she was a qualifiedBarber. She was told “Do not cut their hair”..…Well that fell on deaf ears. Poor Graham always came off the worse because he had dark straight hair. There would be several bald patches & she would try & disguise this by putting black boot polish on them. Graham even tried to stick his hair back on with chewing gum! did he cry.
Oh, then she would cut their fingernails on a regular basis to the quick, & insist on filing them…the kids still cringe now. But these are the memories they have of Super gran. Further grandchildren arrived making her brood Six, then later, Seven great grandchildren & then, One great great grandchild.
 
Around thirty-one years ago Shirley & Francis moved to West Wales. This must have broken her heart, but she never showed it. Both Maureen & Brian visited several times a year for a holiday. These holidays were more travelled as the years went by, to The Caribbean, Mexico, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, Brunei, Kuala Lumpur & even as far as NZ where both her Granddaughter Stephanie & later her Son Peter resided. She loved travelling & at the ripe old age of 68 went backpacking with Brian, Shirley & Francis using the Magic Bus around North & South Island, visiting all the wonderful scenery & culture. 
 
These memories would eventually be taken from her bit by bit, after having a mini stroke in 2014. No one knew that Dementia would sneakily worm its way through & start taking her short-term memory away, then continue to destroy the long-term memories until she couldn’t remember all those close to her. Dementia doesn’t stop there, it causes frustration, anger, fear, grief & tears, not only for those suffering, but also those caring. This proved to be hard sometimes for Brian. So, Maureen went to Wales for a short time to live with Shirley & family. The only way to describe someone who has dementia as it progresses, is like having a child again…naughty, funny, frustrated & needing lots of help in daily activities.
 
 
Obviously, there was lots of memories made with laughter & giggles especially when showering. She would point her finger or clench her fist & say ‘You Bitch or ‘I’ll kill you’ then laugh. Brian came for Xmas but due to lockdown they both stayed for around 6 months. 
With everyone working together, it had its advantages. 
Brian reminisced with Maureen, listening to 50 & 60s music blaring out daily. Everyone could see a decline in Maureen’s mental & physical health. This came to an end as Brian yearned to go back to Thetford. Everything was put into place so that they could carry on living to together independently. Dementia decided to remove more of Maureen’s memories & she then fell & broke her hip. She never returned home again. 
After five weeks in hospital, she went to St Leonards Court Care Home in Mundford. A great place with lovely Careers allowing Brian in, even when not expected. 
 
The call came, to “Clear the diary “Family came from Scotland, Wales & local, to say their last goodbyes & to support Brian.
 
Shirley & Stephanie sat by her bedside at nights to ensure she was not alone as slowly started to slip away.
 
Death is a release from pain, lose of dignity, loss of memories.
 
But the start of eternal bliss!
 
Maureen died on the 31st October Halloween night. The perfect time to leave on her broomstick, with her wonderful new wings stretched out full.
 
With tears in Stephanie’s eyes she recalled a lovely memory as a child, of her Nan prancing around the garage on her broomstick & then telling her to hop on to fly like witches.
 
What a privilege to be with you until the end Mum. You taught me so much throughout life & gave me a lesson, of not living in fear of death & funerals till the very end!
 
You will always be in our memories & our hearts
 
Rest in Peace          Love You!