From: Julie Off!cerDate: 04-Feb-2007 15:55
Subject: My Transcript
To: ridlydidly
I had no intention of speaking on Friday as I knew I would be too upset. I did however want to have something with me though just in case. I thought I could go round individually and read it to everyone. I tried to write something but it was so hard, at the last minute I printed out the dating site thing that I had mentioned to you and ad libbed my "speech" to top and tail it so it's perhaps not word for word but it is very close.
I can't believe how hard it is to read it again. I am so glad she got to read most of it as she was very flattered.
I never thought I would have to stand up here. I still can't believe she's not here, I can still hear her voice, see her smile and the way she'd twirl one strand of hair between two fingers. How she'd laugh so hard no sound came out but tears ran down her cheeks. How she danced, head nodding out the beat while she twisted from side to side, how she'd throw her head back in exasperation, hands out stretched in a silent question. How she'd groan at jokes she really found funny, how excited she got about the littlest things. Her eternal optimism. Last year I signed her up for a dating website called my single friend.com. I had to have her permission and Clare didn't edit any of what I wrote. It was just supposed to be a summary of Clare, and I had to keep cutting things out but it was still a few paragraphs long. You couldn't sum her up in any less. This is what it said.
"My friend Clare is an amazing person and utterly unique. If I had to use one word to describe her it would be passionate.
She has an undying wanderlust and is incredibly well travelled. She lived in Asia for many years and is madly in love with the Far East. When she decided to return to the UK she couldn't possibly just get on a plane and in true Clare style came back on the trans Siberian railway.
She is an ardent music fan. Whatever your music taste her vast music collection will probably be able to accommodate it. Although she has very eclectic tastes, enjoying a bit of trance in the evening to unwind, her big passion is Rock. She once flew back from Hong Kong for a weekend to see Metallica and is sill in mourning for the closure of the Intrepid fox.
Another thing that gets her fired up is rugby union. She could definitely do with some help on the rules of the game but that doesn't stop her enjoyment of watching. She is particularly taken with Martin Johnson and no doubt fantasies about being tackled by a man that is as broad as he is tall. 
Although she's slummed it through India and Tibet, she loves to be pampered and likewise loves to pamper and make someone feel special. She's generous to a fault and deserves someone that can return the attention.
She loves to go out and have a good time. She's a great laugh, fun to be with though sometimes a liability. She's always up for new experiences and anything can happen when she lets her mass of titian hair down. Just don't let her drink tequila or heaven help you.
Her ideal man would be a longhaired rock god who likes to play rugby and travel the globe. If you tick any of these boxes then come and put some passion into her love life ".
She was the person I knew best and the person who knew me best. She was more than a best friend; she was my hero, my soul sister. She made life bearable. I will miss her forever. The world is a much darker place without her.
