Vanessa entered the Lady Eleanor Hollis School when we were both 13.  I was there before her and she was a shy little new girl.  We had the same way to school.  I got on the bus at the Ace of Spaces and Vanessa got in two stops later at Hinchley Wood.  The bus took us to Hampton Court and there we walked over the bridge and got into a trollybus for a few stops and then there was a walk of maybe 15 minutes.  Plenty of time to chat and get to know each other better.

Vanessa's father was a rather shy man.  He collected butterflies (thus the name of Vanessa, which is a butterfly family) Vanessa hated her name and always wished she had been christened Jane or Susan.  Her mother was the opposite: a sophisticated lady who used to be a model and who played bridge.  She was often not at home when we got back from school and that was the reason we both swore we would never learn to play bridge. 

She met Douglas fairly late in life - I think she was 37 and she was really thrilled and happy when Hannah arrived and her family was complete.  My life was very different, I met my husband when I was very young and went to Munich when I was 22 to marry him.  Vanessa came to visit us quite often, the enjoy the carnival in Munich and on other occasions.  She spent two holidays with us at the seaside in Italy, once when Michaela our daughter was quite small and once with our son Andy.  

We were always in touch and the last visit was in September 2019 when she stayed with me in my holiday home in Austria near Salzburg. We had arranged that she would come again next year, but alas  - then Covid came and we did not meet again.

She was always kind and gentle, a good listener and it was impossible not to like her. That is why she had so many friends.  We will all miss her and I imagine that all her friends have happy memories, as I do of the good times we had together.  May she rest in peace.