I HAVE SPENT TWO WEEKS THINKING ABOUT WHAT TO SAY TODAY AND I’VE STRUGGLED. HOW DO YOU SUM UP SOMEONE’S LIFE IN THREE MINUTES? ONE OF JULIET’S FAVOURITE MOVIES WAS A FILM CALLED “LETTERS TO JULIET”, SO I THOUGHT IT APPROPRIATE TO WRITE A LETTER TO JULIET. MY DARLING FRIEND JULIET, IT IS HARD TO THINK THAT YOU ARE NO LONGER WITH US IN BODY, BUT I TRULY HOPE YOU ARE STILL WITH US IN SPIRIT, BECAUSE SPIRIT IS WHAT I THINK ABOUT WHEN I THINK ABOUT YOU. SPIRIT AND HOPE. WHEN WE FIRST MET SOME 20 YEARS AGO, I WAS DRAWN TO YOU BECAUSE YOU WERE KIND, OPEN MINDED AND OPEN HEARTED, YOU DIDN’T JUDGE PEOPLE, WHICH IS A GIFT MANY OF US LOOSE THROUGH LIFE, BUT YOU NEVER DID. YOU WERE ALWAYS WILLING TO OFFER YOUR FRIENDSHIP AND SUPPORT TO SOMEONE IN DISTRESS, WHETHER IT BE A FRIEND OR A COMPLETE STRANGER. LOOKING BACK I THINK YOU FELT COMPELLED TO HELP PEOPLE BECAUSE YOU KNEW WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO STRUGGLE, TO BE HURTS AND TO BE LONELY. WHAT INSPIRED ME THE MOST ABOUT YOU WAS THAT DESPITE THE CHALLENGES AND DIFFICULTIES YOU FACED IN LIFE YOU NEVER LOST YOUR SPIRIT. I KNOW THERE WERE TIMES THAT YOU HAD TO DIG DEEP TO FIND IT, BUT IT WAS ALWAYS THERE. YOU HAD THE MOST INCREDIBLE SENSE OF HUMOUR AND I THINK THIS HELPED YOU AND THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU COPE WITH ADVERSITY. I LOVED THAT YOU WANTED A BETTER LIFE FOR YOURSELF AND YOUR DAUGHTER, AND THAT YOU WORKED HARD TO ACHIEVE THIS AND TO BE A BETTER PERSON. YOU LOVED LEARNING, READING, WATCHING MOVIES, VISITING GALLERIES AND MUSEUMS. YOU NEVER GAVE UP HOPE THAT YOU WOULD COMPLETE YOUR LAW DEGREE; WE EVEN TALKED ABOUT DOING IT TOGETHER, SO THAT WE WOULD HAVE SOMEONE TO DEBATE WITH AND DISCUSS THE TOPICS. YOU LOVED TO DEBATE AND DISCUSS POLITICS, HISTORY AND HUMAN RIGHTS. YOU SOMETIMES CAME ACROSS AS OPINIONATED, STUBBORN, AND DARE I SAY CANTANKEROUS, BUT I SAW IT AS PASSION AND ENTHUSIASM, A ZEST FOR LEARNING TALKING AND SHARING. YOU HAD AN INCREDIBLE SENSE OF JUSTICE, OF HUMANITY AND YOU WOULD HAVE MADE A WONDERFUL HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER. I AM SORRY THAT I DIDN’T GET TO TELL YOU HOW IMPORTANT YOU WERE TO ME, TO MANY PEOPLE IN THIS ROOM, BUT I THINK YOU KNEW.