Our faith informs our lives.
When I first met Marjorie I probably had just been received into the Russian Orthodox Church. Marjorie was atheist, nearly communist, she didn’t believe. But her faith, her love, the gift of Life in her children and final child Zoe was her faith and in her heart, and she found God in the darkness of grief when Roy died and she never left Him.
She took to going to church as if she had never not been.
It is also a testimony to the community of St Peter’s that Marjorie found such a loyal supportive church family, such close good friends.
Marjorie’s faith in that way is still an incredible testimony to me and her righteous anger. I started writing something about how we bonded in our anger and thought that didn’t sound very positive so halted,* however we did, we talked, we supported each other in our belief in the talents and personality and gifts of those we loved.
Shallal is symbiotic it gives back what you give to it.
Marjorie gave us this straight talking, honest, consistent, dedicated, sensitive and talented support.
In giving thanks for Marjorie and celebrating her I also want to give thanks and celebrate this community. I know she felt the loss of those in the parish who died and I know you will miss her, we all will.
However one last word, Marjorie gave Zoe fantastic coping skills to help her love and remember and dedicate things in her life to her father Roy.
Zoe immediately started doing that for Marjorie, so her legacy flourishes and that informed by her active Christian faith makes Zoe strong and wonderful as we know she is.
second piece of writing - which i didn't read out...
When I first met Marjorie she was quite rightly angry, so was I, we bonded over that.*
Angry about how people ( with learning disabilities LD) were treated, angry about the limited opportunities, patronising, dismissive attitudes. Angry that ( some ) people said that people who happened to be born with a LD had no potential and very little choice.
We take it for granted now that our children ( with 'disablities' ) live with us, but Marjorie’s generation were encouraged to put their babies/children straight into care. I worked with people who lived in one such institution I was also angry, upset, frustrated!
She was one of the forerunners making the trail easier for parents of children with support needs who came after her.
It hurt and it hurt and society had to be prepared to do battle with her.
She often mentioned about when people in Shallal received applause, that originally it wasn’t something they were used to and she also mentioned the choices and opportunities Shallal gave to Zoe and others.
