For many of us, losing a loved one is the most challenging experiences we will ever face. Christmas can be especially difficult as friends and families gather to celebrate the festive season. And whether our bereavement is recent or not so recent, our sadness and loss can feel overwhelming…


Raising a toast to Alan


Christmas was an important time for the Sells family, particularly dad, Alan. Always the life and soul of the party, Alan could light up a room with his personality. Despite being diagnosed with cancer in 1998, he was determined not to let it beat him and Alan spent his final Christmas


and New Year at home, surrounded by his family, singing along to the karaoke machine.


Shortly after Christmas, Alan made the decision to move to Heart of Kent Hospice and in February 2004 he passed away. His daughter, Vanessa, who was pregnant at the time with her first child, remembers the wonderful care


her family received: “Dad was a very proud man and tried to protect us all from what he was going through. He felt he could confide in the nurses at the Hospice though, and shared his heartache at knowing he would never meet his grandchild.”


Just three months after her dad


died, Vanessa gave birth to a baby boy named Barnaby Alan in his memory.


“He shared his heartache at knowing he would never meet his grandchild”


Vanessa Brown (right), Mum and Jemma


Christmas remains a special time for the family and they always come together and raise a toast to Alan. Last year, Vanessa and her mum decided to join the Light up a Life Christmas service at Heart of Kent Hospice along with a friend, Jemma.


24


Maidstone Weald November 2018


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48