Address by Ross Cattell
Vicky, Tommy and I would like to thank you all for coming today and for the fantastic support that you have given us over the past week. For all your kind words and tributes, your food, meals, cakes and beautiful flowers. But most of all for your friendship and company. Special thanks to Lulu, Kylie, Ed, Max and Jude who have helped us so much to organise today and to Mandy, Fi, and Hilary who have worked so hard to help us in the past week.
I want to say a few words now about Louise but V, T and I plan to have a big celebration in the summer when we can get together again to talk about what she has meant to each of us and celebrate her life in a way that she would love. I am also setting up her website, louisecattell.com as a place to collect your words, thoughts and pictures in a more permanent way than the great tributes you have left on Facebook and in letters and comments over the past week.
As we leave today there will be a collection which we will give to charities that support the homeless – an issue that Louise always cared about.
All of you will have shared the same thoughts and feelings that I have since last Wednesday. Amazement and disbelief, anger, and most of all a huge sense of loss. Thoughts of all the things that Louise has lost – the years at art school – a successful working life – a family and about what we have lost: an amazing daughter, sister and friend who lit up our lives when she entered the room and constantly thrilled and delighted us with her incredible energy and creativity.
To drive away these terribly sad thoughts I have looked for the Louise that we have not lost. A reason why so many of you are here today, why she has so many friends, is because of the huge amount that she has given to us. You have told us about all the joy and fun that she has brought to every occasion, from parties and festivals to a chance meeting on the bus. Of her kindness and support – never a bad word for anyone. How she has helped so many of you to be more happy, confident or creative. The friends that she has helped at school – the inspiration that she given us with her energy to go out and do so many things – and the example that she has constantly provided of how important it is to be who you want to be, even if that is different, wild or eccentric. These gifts are ours forever – a part of Louise that we will carry in our hearts, share and celebrate every time that we meet. So as we say goodbye to her in one way, let us cherish the Louise who will always be with us and who has changed our lives – an amazing, insightful and loving person, wise beyond her years. Our bright star, a ray of sunshine.
Address by Lulu and Kylie
Everyone who met Louise will have a myriad of special memories with her, but what everyone will agree is that she was an amazing friend and truly one of a kind. She was the kind of friend you always wish for but never expect to find; and once found always want to hold onto and cherish.
It is impossible to say what made Louise so special. She injected life and colour into every situation and every day spent with her was a new adventure and is now a treasured memory. Despite having spent so much time with her, she never failed to surprise us with new hidden depths to her talents, be it landscape gardening, teaching herself macramé one afternoon or hula hooping. She achieved more in her 21 years than most could hope to in a life time; from photographing bands and club nights aged 14 to hosting club nights and DJing all over the country not to mention being a style icon in her own right. But this is just a snapshot of how accomplished she was.
Louise had a unique positivity and genuine excitement for life that is so rare. She was a source of constant admiration and will always remain an inspiration to us all. She taught everyone around her to be proud of who they are and have the courage to be an individual, something that will stay with us forever.
Thank you for being one of the best friends we’ve ever known. It is hard to imagine there are not years of new adventures together ahead of us. We will all miss you indescribably and never forget all the good times we had.
Poem read by Tommy Cattell:
Author: Henry Van Dyke (1852 – 1933)
I am standing upon the seashore.
…A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze
and starts for the blue ocean.
She is an object of beauty and strength,
and I stand and watch until at last she hangs
like a speck of white cloud
just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other.
Then someone at my side says,
” There she goes! ”
Gone where?
Gone from my sight . . . that is all.
She is just as large in mast and hull and spar
as she was when she left my side
and just as able to bear her load of living freight
to the place of destination.
Her diminished size is in me, not in her.
And just at the moment
when someone at my side says,
” There she goes! ”
there are other eyes watching her coming . . .
and other voices ready to take up the glad shout . . .
” Here she comes! ”
Poem read by Vicky Cattell
Poetry of the Taos Pueblo Indian Nation
Hold on to what is good
even if it is a handful of earth,
Hold on to what you believe
even if it is a tree which stands by itself,
Hold on to what you must do
even if it is a long way from here,
Hold on to my hand
even when I have gone away from you.
Poem by Dion Troubador Power:
The World’s been robbed of energy and left quite shaken,
this must be undone, fate has been mistaken.
I sit here with your name running down my cheeks,
the blow of this news has left me shattered and weak.
Too sad to accept or even comprehend,
I just want to kiss your head and say “i’ll miss you, my friend”.
I met you as a child and watched you grow,
I loved you even more than you could possibly know.
A void in our thoughts now, your smile in our hearts,
you may be further now, but never too far apart.
It’s hard to accept that you’ve grown wings and have gone,
but we shall speak your name and you’ll forever live on.
Poem read by Daisy Fairchild:
Auroral Star,
Sweetest flower,
Child of the magic hour,
Your eyes of azure warm and sow,
The purest love in all you know.
Your cheeky smile graced your sweet face;
Forever lights and fills this space,
And ’til we meet again dear friend,
Your love and light shall never end.