How do you say goodbye to someone you have worked with for 10 years?
Ameena Roberts was a bit like me, someone who has been part of Neurosupport, on a Tuesday for a long time, along with Jessie (now retired), Margaret (now doing a different day) Wendy and me. Over those 10 years, as I got to know Ameena and her husband Phil, one thing you noticed about her was her smile, she could make the grey day brighter in that moment when you saw her. Her sense of fun and laughter was always with her. She had problems with her health over the years, but she kept smiling through all her bad times, as well as the good.
Over the last 2 years Ameena had been in and out of hospital, (more in than out I’m afraid) but last year she did put in a brief appearance on reception, taking her old job back answering the phones. She and Phil joined us on our canal boat trip in October last year and even when we were all cold towards the end of that day, Ameena still kept smiling. For a brief moment in time we were all back together again and recaptured our sense of fun and laughter, remembering our times together, when it became clear that Ameena would not return to work again. Over the last year I have visited Ameena in hospital many times, my last visit just a week before she died, and even then although she was very ill, she still had her smile and her spirit always shone through, something that I think we will all miss, I know I will.
I would like to say thank you to everyone who wrote on the card and contributed to the collection for Ameena, which Phil has donated to ward 19 at Aintree Hospital, where Ameena and Phil were both looked after; Phil said to me the staff went that extra mile for them both The money will be divided between buying a piece of equipment for the ward and the nurses social fund. Alan Clark.
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