MY TRIBUTE TO MY PAM I wish I could deliver this tribute to My Pam but I am afraid I will not be able to stumble through these words so Adie has kindly agreed to read it for me. Pam was born in Canterbury, the eldest sibling of three to Henry and Dorothy Knight. She spent the whole of her life in East Kent and what a varied and happy life she had! At an early age she was confined at the Royal Sea Bathing Hospital in Margate with suspected TB. As a result her left leg did not develop and her ankle was locked. She left hospital with a caliper but such was her determination this did not hold her back. Trips to the seaside were accompanied with plastic bags so she could paddle in the sea with her Margaret and Clive. In Pam's early 20's Beverley and Rachel were born. Both girls have many memories of their early years with Pam...... rehearsals and performances at the pantomime where both girls performed. It seems Pam and other proud mothers were in trouble with the organisers for being too noisy. Little did they know that the thermos flasks supposedly containing coffee were in fact full of wine. Beverley recalls when she was 16 her mum took her to an audition for a cowboy show and she was expecting her to be dressed in a cowboy outfit – the actual costume was a white bikini complete with tassles.....Their mum was always there for her girls and was present at the birth of some of the grandchildren. One abiding memory both girls share is Pam's shopping habits. If she could not choose between two colours she would buy both and if asked if something was new would reply 'what this old thing – I've had it years' In her teens she worked in and around Canterbury and by all accounts had a lot of fun with her lifelong friend Diana. We are now all waiting for Diana's memoirs to be published so we can get a greater insight into those heady days. In her mid twenties Pam bought her first horse and took several jobs to fund her new found passion. She worked at Canterbury University as a cleaner and at a Berni Inn as a waitress as well as bringing up two small children. Her energy was boundless. At the Berni Inn, Pam met Alistair and they were married shortly after. Alastair adopted the two girls and he set up his own restaurant in Whitstable. Pam was an accomplished rider excelling at long distance riding and showing. She was Secretary of the North Kent Riding Club and Chief Instructor for the Herne Bay Pony Club and was the BHS representative for Canterbury. Three day eventing was her passion and she attended both Badminton and Burleigh every year with her horsey friends. In 1986, to fund her equine activities, she took a further part time job at the Canterbury Saddle Centre and after much persuasion she eventually became a full time Tele-Sales Supervisor for the Westgate Group. Her last job before retirement from Westgate was 'on the road' as Area Manager visiting retail outlets in the South-East – a job she loved. I first met Pam when she worked at the Canterbury Saddle Centre and as they say the rest is history. We 'eloped' to Broadstairs acutely aware of the pain we had inflicted on our respective families. My three daughters Emma, Lucy and Elisabeth embraced Pam and whilst she never wanted to be a mother to them she was always there more as a friend and confidant. Here are some of my memories I would like to share with you all:     I remember the day she first told me she loved me.     I remember a wet, dull Thursday afternoon in January 1990. I phoned Pam's office and very innocently said what are we doing on Saturday? - nothing came the reply. That’s good I said because I’ve booked the registry office – who said romance is dead?      I remember the day my dear friends organised a surprise wedding celebration for us which was to be followed by a boys weekend in France but on our way to Folkestone we had a furious row about something very trivial which ended with Pam chucking me out of the car with all my gear - try explaining that to your friends......      I remember the time we went to the Maldives to celebrate Pams 50th – to her it was the closest thing to paradise she had ever seen and she cried when we left.    I remember the day we had a payout from our pension funds and sitting at our breakfast table deciding what to do with this new found wealth. I put forward the suggestion that we could pay off some of the mortgage. Pam countered this with 'we could go to the Sydney Olympics'. We went to the Olympics.      I remember the time I was out of work for 3 months - no recriminations just support and love which I sorely needed.       I remember the very early morning on the 2nd day of our holiday in Agra at the wonderful Taj Mahal and Pam fell over and sustained a double compound fracture of her left leg. Me, I did a very passable impersonation of Corporal Jones don’t panic etc...... she calmly straightened her leg and wrapped a pink pashmina (which is with her today) round her leg. We were taken to the nearest hospital which turned out to be a fertility clinic where the leg was set and then onto a hospital in New Delhi for a further operation and a fortnights stay before travelling back to the UK. I remember the day we all went away to Dorset for an 'adult' Christmas..... Pam was paired with Adie for the Secret Santa and her present to Adie was a pole dancing kit. I'm afraid all cameras were banned but the memories persist.     I remember the day we received Pam's diagnosis of dementia. The consultant was trying to be as tactful as he possibly could and skirted around the issue. Pam, in her very straight forward manner put him out of his misery by saying – what you are trying to say is 'I have dementia'.     I remember the day I retired from work to give her all my attention and love.  I hesitate to mention any of the grand children in particular but I cannot let this ceremony pass without mentioning our eldest grandson, Danny. When I retired I gave six months notice and whilst I was at work Dan stayed with us and looked after his nan - taking her to Tenterden Leisure Centre by taxi, making sure she was fed and watered and generally just being there for her. We were both so grateful. Pam lit up my life and the response to her passing shows me that she had the same effect on a lot of people. She was always there for me. Pam was a devoted mother, grandmother, great grandmother and wife. She was a very caring and loving person who always put other people first and was always fun to be with. A very good judge of character who did not suffer fools and who was never afraid of straight talking. She would rather give than receive and was a doer rather than a sitter. Of course, as with any relationship, it was not all plain sailing but we always worked out our differences and managed to come through some difficult times. In fact we earned the nickname of the Battling Beatty's. We had no secrets and were always honest with each other – sometimes brutally! I adored Pam and I miss her dreadfully. Thank you for listening and letting me share some of my memories. Jxx