Jill Bayles

I never met Nige but I can tell from all that has been said about him on this site that he has lightened a few hearts and put a few smiles on faces over the years and I feel saddened that this particular friendship has passed me by as my life, like many others, would have been a lot richer for the experience. It transpires that a lot of people I know did themselves know Nige and I'm not really sure how come I never met him but maybe it's because I left Northern behind way back in the day when Wigan closed. I'm 45. Since then I've been an avid lover of "tricky Disco" (yep Modern) so maybe that's why...our paths will have been going in different directions. If it helps I know exactly what you are all going through right now because I lost my best mate who was like my sister to cancer about 4 years ago at Christmas. My dearest Steph. We were 5 months apart in age and I never knew what it was like to be without her until I lost her cos we were always together as our parents were best mates, we went through all our milestones together, you name it we did it as a team...Wigan, weddings, funerals (we lost her older brother to leukaemia when we were about 12), graduations, birthdays, births, christenings,any old excuse for a p--s up really...and then all of a sudden she was gone, in her 41st year....far too early to be taken from us that's for sure. It still feels like I've lost my right arm but the pain and the hurt isn't as bad now....it's getting easier with each passing day and there's never a truer saying than "time is a great healer" because it is. Not a day goes by without me thinking of her and whenever I remember her its always as she was on her wedding day when she looked so beautiful and was so very happy and I was by her side as her Matron of Honour... Well I hope that you can take some comfort from my words and seek solace from the fact that all the pain and hurt that you are feeling right now will ease with the passage of time. And of course you'll always have your memories and nobody can ever take them away from you. My thoughts are with Nige's family and friends at this sad time and I'm sure that a celebration of his life will be a fitting final tribute for him. Anyway rest in love and peace Nige lad and seeing as we never met in this life then hopefully we'll meet in the next one.

:graywanker: 99% of all northern tracks