Margaret, or 'Midge' as she was always known to me, was a constant throughout my life due to her friendship with my parents and my lifelong friendship with her middle daughter, Maggie. When my mother had to go into a care home with severe dementia ten years ago, Midge became my 'proxy' Mum and I will always be so grateful to her for her advice and support particularly when I lost my youngest son in 2011. I will miss her tremendously but am grateful that my Mum, although still with us, will not understand that she has lost a friend who knew her for over 70 years.