Asuncion "Susie" Bush

Her son Michael spoke first, describing his mother as a strikingly positive woman who had faced a great deal in life. Her daughter then shared a tender memory of childhood sleeplessness — how her mother would lay a hand across her waist to anchor her into sleep, and how that small act became a lifelong emotional touchstone. She recalled her mother's stories of girlhood in Spain, her adventures in church alongside Susie's husband, and the ordinary rituals of motherhood: lunches, hair, bedtime stories, and the universally mortifying spit-on-the-thumb face cleaning.

Susie was described as sometimes complicated, always remarkable, but above all unembarrassed in expressing love — telling her children at least once a month how proud she was of them. The closing message linked her life to that of her daughter Esther, who had preceded her into the spirit world, and drew on C.S. Lewis and the Qur'an to frame love as the enduring currency between this world and the next.

'When I was little, the only thing I needed was my mum's hand across my waist,' her daughter said. 'It never really occurred to me, until she was passing, just how significant that small act was.'