Janine Banks (21 Aug 1941 - 3 Dec 2015)

Oh dear, I miss you Janine

I have been blessed with 54 years of the life of this amazing lady.
You have been my wife, best friend and trusted companion. Thank you

Message from Pam Carter, long standing close friend

We meet many people as we travel on the journey of life but only occasionally do we find someone who becomes vey special to us. Janine was that special person. And we are privileged to call her a dear friend.

My husband, Philip, and I first met Janine and Peter 42 years ago when we first moved to Aylesbury and became neighbours.

This was the start of our friendship, and we spent many fun filled social hours together.

We often got together for a meal. Janine would lay the table with our best cutlery, crockery, glasses and decorations, for which Jan had a flair. You would have thought we were getting prepared for a sumptuous banquet! Next Jan and I would don our long party dresses and pay attention to our makeup. Meanwhile we had sent the boys off to buy food from the local Chinese restaurant and a couple of bottles of cheap sparkling wine at 99p a bottle! (And boy did that bubbly wine kick a punch.) The food would be taken from the plastic containers and transferred to our best tureens! During the evening Peter would keep us entertained with hilarious anecdotes and jokes that made us laugh so much our sides ached.

On hot summer days Jan would be the instigator in starting water fights. We’d start off with water pistols, then jugs and end up with buckets until we were all drenched. One day Janine was in a long evening dress when Phil picked her up and put her in a barrel of water which was used to water the garden. Jan went in to change and had the last laugh when Phil climbed a ladder to her upstairs window with a bucket of water in his hand. But Janine was ready, and just as Phil reached the top rung Janine appeared and tipped two buckets of water over him. Our laughter could have been heard all up the street.

When we first met Julia was just one year old and our youngest, Stewart was two, and they played together most days. Jan and Peter had a Samoid dog and we had a small poodle. One day Janine came running over to say that both children were missing from the garden. Frantically Jan and I rushed out to the street looking for them. As we turned the corner Jan and I couldn’t believe our eyes. The toddlers were walking along the pavement hand in hand with the dogs either side nudging them to keep them on the pavement so they wouldn’t wander onto the road.

Jan and Peter’s dog, Rasputin, was large with a thick coat of long white hair. Philip at this time worked as a Prison Officer and wore a dark navy blue uniform. Raspy used to run out to greet him and I suspect Jan may of opened the gate as she loved to watch Phil’s antics as he tried to stop the dog from spreading his white hair over his uniform when he greeted him. How Jan used to laugh!

To earn some ‘pin money,’ Jan and I worked for Reader’s Digest, who had their premises nearby. We’d pick up the sacks in the morning and spend most of the day packing the pamphlets into the envelopes for very little money while the children played next to us. This may sound like tedious work but with Jan’s chatter and laughter the time passed quickly.

There are many stories of the time we spent together. Janine had a great sense of humour and fun and we always seemed to be laughing over some antic or another.

We organised a street party for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee, then shortly after Philip, myself and our three children returned to Australia.

We never lost touch. I’d visit the UK often to see my parents and Jan and Peter were always there to meet me at Heathrow. The laughing and fun would start almost immediately.

Jan and Peter also visited us in Australia and Jan’s laugh and sense of fun would continue as if we’d never parted. But then that’s how it is with true friends. Jan and I could always carry on as usual no matter how long it had been since we’d last seen each other.

In 1993 we met them at Perth Airport. Jan came through the arrival gate resplendent in an Australian Acubra style hat with corks dangling from it on bits of string to keep the flies away and her familiar laughter ringing out.

Lots of fun and unusual times occurred during their holidays in Australia. Like when they camped in a two man tent beside a railway track and water pipe in the outback. Jan could hardly clamber in the tent she was laughing so much!

In our back yard we had a spa that the four of us would get into on a hot night with a glass of champagne. All very pleasant and relaxing, you’d think, except that Jan found it impossible to sit as she couldn’t sink and just kept floating to the top. As you can imagine this caused a great deal of amusement.

And so it went on. There are so many happy memories of my lovely friend. I’ll never forget you Janine for you will always be with me in my memory. Rest in peace beautiful lady.


Your friend

Pam

Message from the Spanish Family, Angel & Nuria

You have been one of the most incredible, cheerful and surprising women we have ever met. You always listened and supported us. You never judged, although you always found the way to tell us if we were right or wrong. Sometimes you just said “Oh, you bugger off!”. Neither the language barrier, nor your age nor your completely annoying eating hours from a Spaniard’s point of view, were an obstacle to enjoy every single day of your life with us in Spain. You and Pete were always ready to go for a walk down the beach, to organise another surprise birthday party and to join all sorts of noisy family events in the finca and even a two-day non-sleep bachelorette party in Granada. You just were a surprise present from the very beginning since we met you.

You trusted us from day 1 and you considered us your Spanish family. You were the best grandma and grandpa our son Alberto could ever have. He knows you and he says Peppa Pig speaks in English, just like Peter and Janine do. There is a part of you that will always live in Alberto. Of course you will always live in our hearts.

Hasta pronto, Jan.

No words can express how I feel - you were, you are MY MUM! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx