Remembering Gary

I've been here long enough now to know that to say someone is a real Bermondsey person  is about the greatest compliment you can give - and I have been here long enough  now, to begin to appreciate what they meant, as they said so many times today about Gary, whose funeral took place in St James's Church, that he was a real Bermondsey man.

It meant that he loved his wife and his son, that he was loyal to his friends, that he loved to laugh, that he worked hard, that you could rely on him.

There was a full church today to say farewell to Gary, some wonderful tributes, many tears, much laughter, and the wonderful resurrection message of John 11, the subject of Stan's sermon: I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord.

On the way to the crematorium the cortege drove past some of the places that meant a lot to Gary: the estate where he grew up, Millwall Football Club (with the staff standing in respect at the main entrance to the stadium), and the Salmon Youth Centre aka Cambridge Union Mission aka C.U.M.

Actually, C.U.M was a big part of Gary's story. He was a member for many years. He played football there. He met his beloved Joan there. And that great group of C.U.M. friends, who often came with him to Men's Breakfasts at St James, were the ones that gathered round him in his final illness.

Those weeks showed a lot of what true friendship is about. Like Gary, himself, those mates of his were the best of Bermondsey.

So thank God for Gary, thank God for family life and friendship, thank God for CUM & Salmon.