Wendy and I met in the early 70s she was newly married and started work with me at Volkswagen Purley. I can picture Wendy now sitting at her desk with a sparkle in her eyes; she always had a sense of fun about her. Wendy could not drive but was the most fantastic navigator and I nearly always took her with me on business trips, she negotiated the journey right through the busy London traffic with no problem. She would have made an excellent driver, don’t think she ever did learn. We both left Volkswagen at the same time and I had my first child and Wendy went to work at another company. Then Wendy had Matthew and eighteen months later Sarah. Alan and I went to see Wendy just before we left for South Africa, Sarah only a few weeks old – I remember how shocked I was that Roger had walked out on her leaving her with a toddler and a baby. Wendy said at first she did not want to tell anyone thinking it would blow over and Roger would come back, he never did. I remember giving Wendy a big golliwog; it might have even been two golliwogs for the children, not politically correct now. Wendy and I kept in touch by letters and it was not until 1992 that I met up with Wendy and Yvonne whilst on holiday. We met up several times more, taking Wendy for lunch at the Fox in Coulsdon. It was on one of those occasions that she told us about this wonderful man she had met that she knew she would spend the rest of her life with. It was a wonderful story of how they met. On subsequent visits to the UK we met up with Wendy and Ian and Sarah, who by then had grown into a beautiful young lady. Then the sad news that Wendy had cancer and was undergoing chemo. It was on an overseas trip to America that I particularly stopped off in the UK to see Wendy in hospital. She was completely bald but still looked lovely; it was that sparkle in her eyes that made her so attractive. By her bed she had a card from Ian with lovely words which touched her so. Then came the wedding, what an event, a wonderful occasion and it was great to meet up with the VW crowd that Wendy had kept in touch with for over thirty years. It was when a mutual VW friend, Lesley, was coming out to Cape Town, that Wendy sent an email to say she knew we would enjoy meeting up and that it was nine weeks to Christmas, a Christmas she was not to see, that was to be the last email I was to receive from her. It was when Lesley was having lunch at a wine farm that I received the sad news and had to sms her. Lesley returned home and went to the funeral and sent flowers from both of us. I got a long descriptive email of a moment to moment account of the amazing and touching funeral. Truly Wendy was well loved. To Ian, they say it’s better to have loved and lost that never to have loved at all and hope that one day the memories will give him pleasure rather than pain of loss he feels so acutely now.