She knew she owed her a call but somehow didn't pick up the telephone..
To a lot of people her name will mean nothing but to those of us in the design world, she ran the wholesale desk at Bennetts Silks in Stockport for years and later on, to Manchester United Football Club, it meant a lot.
About a year later after leaving Bennetts to help Rod run his business, she was working out at her gym very early one morning on 'The Dreaded Ball' which Sylvie could, literally, dance upon. She finished a routine and three very fit looking men started to clap!
They came over and asked her if she could teach them how to use the ball like she did and her second career was born. For those three men were members of Manchester United's first squad, three of the highest paid footballers in the land!
She did her training and qualified as a fitness instructor and proceeded to take the guys fitness up to an extraordinary level, the word spread and then someone started talking 'Olimpic Athletic Squad'.
Sylvie was one of the most unassuming people she knew and she asked her "what are you going to do?" And the response was this "I'm not, I'm not giving up my family life, I'm happy as I am, there are other fitness coaches quite capable of doing what I do" and she didn't, she stepped down.
And did something different.. she started Web Designing! She was, truly, a Woman For All Jobs!
My mum started to be ill and a mutual friend told Sylvie about it and they chatted.. but Sylvie did not let on that she had also a problem.. a cancer that had been operated on and 'dealt with' many years previously had returned. Our lovely friend had full blown bowel cancer.
Today, in the afternoon, she thought "Where is that naughty girl, I'll give her a call and was slightly bemused to find a answering message in her friend's mobile saying 'Rod Jones can't take your call, please leave a message', so she called the house number.
Rod answered the phone, except it really didn't sound like Rod, it sounded like an older, desperately sad version of his former self and she said "Rod, it's ..., are you ok, you sound very ill, what's the matter sweetie, is Sylvie there with you?".
And she heard him choke as he had to clear his voice and tell her the dreadful news that Sylvie, his marvellous and truly magical wife of forty eight years, had died on November 18th, 2016.
She sat stunned.. our darling Sylvie gone. Rod told her about the funeral and the 'wake' afterwards at Frankie's, Sylvie's Wine Bar of choice. To which bosses of textile industries came, a lot of folk from the Interior Design world, the Man United squads past and present, the WI, the Samaritans for whom she had volunteered for over thirty years, the local allotment members, her friends and the whole of the local town council!
Everyone wrote in a book and Christian, her son, said "It's very strange, it's almost as if all the remarks have been written by the same person just using different words and different subjects.. but it really shows how loved she was".
That, Christian, is true, she was loved very much by hundreds of people and we will all miss her.
GeeGee Parrot.
January 16th, 2017.
To a lot of people her name will mean nothing but to those of us in the design world, she ran the wholesale desk at Bennetts Silks in Stockport for years and later on, to Manchester United Football Club, it meant a lot.
About a year later after leaving Bennetts to help Rod run his business, she was working out at her gym very early one morning on 'The Dreaded Ball' which Sylvie could, literally, dance upon. She finished a routine and three very fit looking men started to clap!
They came over and asked her if she could teach them how to use the ball like she did and her second career was born. For those three men were members of Manchester United's first squad, three of the highest paid footballers in the land!
She did her training and qualified as a fitness instructor and proceeded to take the guys fitness up to an extraordinary level, the word spread and then someone started talking 'Olimpic Athletic Squad'.
Sylvie was one of the most unassuming people she knew and she asked her "what are you going to do?" And the response was this "I'm not, I'm not giving up my family life, I'm happy as I am, there are other fitness coaches quite capable of doing what I do" and she didn't, she stepped down.
And did something different.. she started Web Designing! She was, truly, a Woman For All Jobs!
My mum started to be ill and a mutual friend told Sylvie about it and they chatted.. but Sylvie did not let on that she had also a problem.. a cancer that had been operated on and 'dealt with' many years previously had returned. Our lovely friend had full blown bowel cancer.
Today, in the afternoon, she thought "Where is that naughty girl, I'll give her a call and was slightly bemused to find a answering message in her friend's mobile saying 'Rod Jones can't take your call, please leave a message', so she called the house number.
Rod answered the phone, except it really didn't sound like Rod, it sounded like an older, desperately sad version of his former self and she said "Rod, it's ..., are you ok, you sound very ill, what's the matter sweetie, is Sylvie there with you?".
And she heard him choke as he had to clear his voice and tell her the dreadful news that Sylvie, his marvellous and truly magical wife of forty eight years, had died on November 18th, 2016.
She sat stunned.. our darling Sylvie gone. Rod told her about the funeral and the 'wake' afterwards at Frankie's, Sylvie's Wine Bar of choice. To which bosses of textile industries came, a lot of folk from the Interior Design world, the Man United squads past and present, the WI, the Samaritans for whom she had volunteered for over thirty years, the local allotment members, her friends and the whole of the local town council!
Everyone wrote in a book and Christian, her son, said "It's very strange, it's almost as if all the remarks have been written by the same person just using different words and different subjects.. but it really shows how loved she was".
That, Christian, is true, she was loved very much by hundreds of people and we will all miss her.
GeeGee Parrot.
January 16th, 2017.
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