Belinda Vivien Carter (2 Jun 1946 - 26 Dec 2020)

In loving memory of Belinda Vivien Carter who sadly passed away on 26th December 2020
conscious also, that it is just under six weeks since we were here saying goodbye to John.
I expect that no matter where you know Viv from, whether that be from her time in Tunbridge or the last few years here in Suffolk. Whether you remember her as a mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, friend or other relation you will all have your own, individual memories of her and of what she means to each of you.
What is more, since Viv died, you have probably all been sharing your memories with one another since. Some of those memories, especially for her family, will go back many years. Some of them will be very personal, things that only you and Viv shared. Others, you will have been reminded of, that, perhaps, you had forgotten about or possibly people have shared with you that you never knew about before.
As you all share your memories, so it also creates different emotions too. There will be some things that bring a smile to your face. You know the kind of thing that you look back on fondly. Others, I hope will have made you laugh. You know the kind of thing that gets repeated now and again at family gatherings, funny stories. There will also have been the odd one or two that have brought a tear to the eye and that is only natural.
Viv was a creative person, perhaps not in this way but it is a bit like creating a patchwork quilt. Each of you have different patches to put on to the quilt and each patch will have a different picture on it, a different memory from a different part of her life.
Some of you will have more patches than others, some will have older ones, some will have patches from parts of her life that the others haven’t. Yet, each piece is as important as any other. When you put them all together though, when you sew them together what they create is one, big, beautiful quilt and that quilt reveals the whole of Viv’s life.

Don’t think of her as gone away –
Her journey’s just begun,
Life holds so many facets –
This earth is only one.

Just think of her as resting
From the sorrows and the tears
In a place of warmth and comfort
Where there are no days and years.

Think how she must be wishing
That we could know today
How nothing but our sadness
Can really pass away.

And think of her as living
In the hearts of those she touched
For nothing loved is ever lost –
And she was loved so much

Mum, we miss you every day, there is an ache in our hearts that will never go away. We love you with all our hearts.
God bless you mum......until we meet again xxxxxxx