Linda wanted a private funeral so I was the only one there.  She reckoned if people didn't want to see here when she was alive there was no point then being there when she was dead.

She was brought in to 'Run' by Leona Lewis, a song that made her weep every time it came on the hospice radio and I left to 'Bring Me Sunshine' by Willie Nelson.  She wanted a light coloured coffin and bright yellow flowers, both of which she got.

The following week I scattered her ashes at a favourite spot on the River Tyne in East Lothian.