Bridget Small

“No need for words, except to say, loved and remembered every day.”

Bridget sadly passed away on Friday 28th January 2022 at Leighton Hospital aged 65 years.

The beloved Wife of the late James. Much loved Mum to Enda, Kevin, James, Declan & Korena also a cherished Grandma and dearest Sister who will be fondly remembered and sadly missed.

Her funeral took place on Monday 7th February at Crewe Crematorium Chapel at 10.45am.

For further information and to offer your condolences, please telephone our Funeral Home on 01270 584447

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We celebrate a life lived in love and faithfulness, and because those who knew her loved her so much, they now feel the loss so keenly. The greater our regard for a person, the greater is the pain. Bridget herself knew all about this pain when 5 years ago she lost her beloved husband James. Yet who would choose NOT to have love in their life?

We need to register this our loss now, to grieve in our own ways over the time we need, and to help ourselves and others to accept what this loss means for each one of us. But today everyone can  take a crumb of comfort that Bridget is now at peace, reunited with beloved husband James, and that in her final days in hospital she was surrounded by family and their deep love for her. Her physical body might have been failing, but her mind was clear as a bell, and she knew she was surrounded by that avalanche of that love. It is good to know she was not afraid of dying. Her deep regret was that she was leaving behind the family she loved.

The family are appreciative of the work of the medics at Leighton, both in their care for Bridget and the kindly way in which they dealt with family members.

Bridget was part of the Irish Diaspora who made this place their home. Her early life had been, as had been James’, traditional and time-honoured in Granard, a small town about 60 miles North-West of Dublin with a population of less than 1000.  She had been born there in 1956 and settled there with James after their marriage in 1977. In Granard one imagines that choices were probably simpler, families stuck together, communities really were communities, and people usually valued what they had and lived thriftily.

But she and James wanted to give their growing family a wider set of opportunities, so transplanted themselves to these parts in 1990. Not a straightforward decision. Something which required courage and resolution.

Bridget did not forget her life in Granard or turn her back on it. On the contrary, she celebrated the traditions she had inherited, kept close links with friends and family often returning to Granard for visits, and she carried forward in her life some of the sound key values and standards derived from that earlier life.

It will be in Granard that her formal funeral will take place and it is there that her ashes will be reunited with those of James.

The outcome of that decision to move here is now for all to see. 5 mature, successful and well-balanced children, not forgetting the 10 grandchildren.

Family came very high in Bridget’s priorities.  First there was the family she was born into, and with which she has kept contact. She has been there for her extended family, sometimes going to stay with a family member to assist when they were poorly, for example.  Her marriage to James in 1977 brought them both great joy, satisfaction and fulfilment. She loyally has been there for him in his life as entertainer and musician.

Then came the family they created around them.  5 children.  Wow!  Bringing them up must have taken some doing! Something of their mother’s character and values is carried forward in their lives. Resilience. Personal integrity. Family loyalty, for example.

To be a good mother and grandmother  is much more than a matter of biology, as I’m sure we all agree. Mothers are at the heart of loving relationships and the building of trust and goodwill. Fathers have their role and of course James played his part, but mothers almost by definition are closest to the action. A mother’s love gives us a picture in miniature of God’s love for us his children.

When Bridget’s  children and grandchildren think about love and affection and relationships, they should remember what they learned about these things from  her. That love – that ability to give love, and receive love – is being cascaded down the generations. Bridget was such a good mother that at least one of her children – James – came back home as an adult to live for a while. Her Grandchildren gave her pride and joy. Grandchildren will each have their special memories.

All this leads on to something important about Bridget’s personality and character. She was good with people. She was interested in people and their lives – you can see that, incidently, in an amusing way in the soaps she watched so avidly and the novels she devoured. She made friends easily, and kept them. You who have been her friends know who you are and Bridget would want to thank you for your friendship. You brought her cheer and she brought cheer into your lives. You are better people for having been in her company. The world is a better place.

We noted previously that Bridget lived her life by high principles – indeed Christian principles. She knew the value of things. The throw-away, credit card society was not her way. The importance of sound housekeeping, the motto ‘waste not want not’, may seem quaint to some members of today’s society. Yet her standards and values are run-away winners when we really think about things, as we try to be good stewards of the environment, to live within our means.

Let’s pick up on the aesthetic/artistic streak in Bridget’s life. We can see that in many aspects of her life –  the way she turned herself out, her dress sense, her natural beauty, her dancing in a pub or in the kitchen –particularly her jiving! There are opportunities in the creative things we do or make to sense something else which endures and transcends our lives – to sense something of a spiritual world which encourages awe and wonder.

Bridget was happy and content here in Crewe, her adopted home, and had no wish to seek out greener pastures -– not hankering after the bright lights or the next new thing. That contentment with life is a wonderful quality. If you have contentment in your heart, you will probably also have a sense of gratitude – gratitude to others, gratitude to God. Then you are blessed indeed, and you have an urge to share blessings with others.

Bridget believed that in the world to come we will have a glorious future. We are reunited with loved ones again. But in the meanwhile she leaves you fragrant and uplifting memories. Rejoice in those memories, now absolutely priceless. Smile and chuckle as she would have smiled and chuckled. Love your families and friends as she did. Be better people for having been in her company.

Soon Bridget’s ashes will be reunited with James’ in Granard. This is a symbol of a greater and more wonderful reunion in the heavenly places.  She has been missing him like crazy these past 5 years. All the puzzlebooks in the world could not take the place of his loving presence. But now they are together again. And in those same spiritual realms those of you who love her will see her again.

May she rest in peace.