Irene Griffiths

By Violet Bright

I was just under eight years old when Irene was born.

Irene did not have an easy life; she was only 2 years old when our mother was killed in the blackouts at the start of WW II.

She was only 5 years old when dad married again – this was not a happy time for either of us, dealing with three step-sisters along with our own three brothers.

I left home as soon as I turned 16, and stayed away. When I returned home again, Irene was a teenager with a boyfriend. They seemed happy, and were looking at houses, but suddenly – out of nowhere – she had a complete breakdown, was very poorly and split from her boyfriend!

It was quite some time before she returned to work, when she did she found herself with a new best friend: Joyce. The pair of then got on really well, and went on holidays abroad together most years – the warm sunny weather worked wonders on Irene’s Psoriasis and helped her get thro’ the winter months.

In 1967 when my husband walked out on me and our two children, she was a pillar of strength, and during that time I got to really know my sister.

She was living with and looking after our day, till his death in 1979, and when Joyce died suddenly in 1993 she was left feeling rather lonely.

By this time the Psoriasis was getting worse, her mobility gradually reduced over time, she had two hip replacements in ’84 and 86 but she was still struggling with really bad ulceration of her leg, till it was finally amputated in ’97. During all of this, she made no big fuss about things and tried to carry on her life as independently as she could. Life was not easy, but she never showed it, and her sense of humour carried her thro’ even when she had the second leg removed in 2001.

As long as she had her ‘ciggies’ and her TV she was happy – and you were given a very sharp response if you dared to phone her or visit during one of her soaps!!

Over the last year or two, my own mobility has decreased, and I have seen my sister less and less.

I am glad I got to see her at the hospital in the last days before she died, and that she passed away very peacefully.

Good Bye Irene,

All your bad years are behind you, and you are at peace at last... I love you now and forever...

Violet.