Shocked that Jacqui has died. She was young, for one thing - for another she had seemed to be overcoming the cancer that had alighted on her. She was born in Zurich and was treated in Switzerland, coming to Esperaza and Rovenac to rest between treatments.
She had been at many events here over a decade plus, but I can't find a single photo of her. Will post later if one turns up. Can see her so clearly, impossible that she is unpixelated...
Her companion Irene says that Jacqui was the most important person in her life; that she was brave and funny and ''sweeter than cherry-pie' .
There is no funeral or ceremony due to the lock-down. I had hoped to say goodbye to her at the funeral home in Luc sur Aude before she was moved to to the crematorium at Trebes but today it seems that only Irene may attend.
She was taller than me but we had roughly the same build so when she got bored with the clothes she made she often passed them on. I treasure especially a full-length dark green velvet skirt, skillfully constructed to gloss over the spare tires. She said when she wore it she felt like a bandit princess. An image to treasure.
Jacqui was a brilliant cook! Lemon cakes for parties, clever pasty things with asparagus and so on - delicate and delicious. For a while she lived in our house in Rue des Jardins and our lives got intertwined; people often say to me that I should write the stories of the Esperazanaise and if I'm spared I might do just that. She'll need a big chapter. Her life was not an easy one and she was puzzled by many things that touched her, never being quite of this world. Her loss is a terrible grief to many but especially, profoundly, to Irene - to whom much love.
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