Helen

Bb and I mentioned on our recent blips that we’d had bad news about a very good friend in Australia.  Our very dear friend Helen passed away in Perth, Australia, on September 28th.  She was 65 and had had a huge operation a few months ago for a brain tumour.  She lived life to the full until the end, even moving house to a house with a sea view in the last stages of her life.   She passed away peacefully in a hospice and was in no pain.  She was in control of her life until the end and on her last Saturday requested oysters and chardonnay, which she enjoyed with a friend.  Over the last month, we’ve been part of a ‘Helen’s friends’ WhatsApp group and have all enjoyed sharing photos, memories, music and of course, giving Helen company and support from all over the world.   

Helen came into our lives in the summer of 2009, when she was Bb’s ‘mother tutor’ on his CELTA Course in International House,  Barcelona.  We became friends and since then, she and I worked on simultaneous courses in that same centre and then together we ran a course in Cultural Inglesa Belem, on the Amazon, in January 2012.  We brought in the new year together 2011/2012, lived in the same small hotel for a month, ate together, and helped all the trainees pass the course and helped Bb through his dengue fever.  Our friendship grew and she became a regular visitor to us here in Barcelona every summer, when she travelled from her home in Perth, Australia to holiday and work in Europe.  Bb and I would keep a note of restaurants during the year, often ones in food markets, and we’d often say, ‘Helen would like it here’.   We also met up in Cairo, which felt like a miracle, as she’d fallen head over heels in love with the city, lived there in the late 80s/early 90s, working for the British Council, and that's where I went on to run courses.   We sent each other what we called ’Eurekas’ over the years - earrings (she used clip-ons and loved big bold colours, nothing shiny - and I sometimes found them in Brazil), bracelets and books.  She introduced us to the lovely books of Shaun Tan.  

When I think of Helen, I think of life-bigger-than-life, bold colours, flowing scarves, a love of fresh quality food, wine, big jewellery, and a huge openness and interest in different cultures and love of good and meaningful conversation.  Forget the small talk, she was right in there with the probing questions!  

Today Bb and I  joined an online celebration of her life with 50 of Helen’s friends from around the world as far spread as Australia, Canada, Greece, UK and Spain.  Tig, the middle sister of three, led the celebration with Booi, the youngest sister.  Bb was invited to read an extract from his book on Cairo and I was invited to choose two poems to read from the book Hailstones and Halibut Bones, Adventures in Colour, which Tig had been sharing with us all in the WhatsApp Group and was a childhood favourite of the 3 sisters.   I chose Blue and Orange - colours I’ll always associate with Helen.  See extras for the poems. 

So, here’s to Helen.  Here’s to life.  And as Tig said, she hasn’t left us. We haven’t lost her.  She lives on in all of us.  Thank you Helen for being such a huge part of our lives.  

For my own records, a link to blips with Helen - although a couple aren't 'our Helen':  https://www.blipfoto.com/search/entries?q=Helen+by+me