Maria de Lourdes Santelli was born in Trinidad in 1919 to religious Venezuelan parents. Her ancestors came from Spain and Corsica. She had one sister, Carmen, who was three years younger than her. Sadly Carmen died a few years ago, having lived in Miami since the 1940's and had six children who all were very fond of Mum. During her early childhood she spent many holidays in Venezuela and Barbados. When Mum was in her late teens she met my Dad, George, whilst on holiday in Barbados. They were married in 1939 in Barbados when she was 20 years old. They then lived there for three beautiful years on a sugar plantation where Dad was manager until he left to work in Trinidad for BWIA. Their first three children, myself, Judith and Jennifer were born in Trinidad. Later as Dad was transferred to open stations in the other islands, these became very special happy years for us as we moved around the Caribbean. In the 1950's when Judith and I were teenagers Mum and Dad decided to send us to boarding school in England. Then later when we were going to college they decided to migrate to England and make our home there. Dad then joined BOAC at Heathrow where he worked up to his retirement. His career in the airline provided the fabulous perk of easy and cheap international flights so Mum and Dad managed to visit their overseas family on a regular basis. Soon after arriving in London Mum and Dad were blessed with another child, Joanne. She was a special treasure having come 16 years after Jennifer and she brought great joy to all of us. In 1964 when Joanne was two the family moved from Kensington to Haven Lane, Ealing. Our home was always open to nephews, nieces and friends from overseas who spent happy times with us all. In later years Mum and Dad's grandchildren arrived to attend boarding school. They and their friends also spent many marvellous holidays with Mum and Dad. Until Dad passed away, Mum and Dad regularly travelled to visit their relatives and friends overseas. Dad died 25 years ago last week, on 3rd October 1987. Mum continued to travel in the years that followed, however, in more recent times as she bacame more frail, she travelled less as the journeys became more difficult. Once Mum couldn't travel any longer, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren came to visit her from Malaysia, Dubai, Trinidad and the U.S. She felt very blessed and they were such special times. Mum had a great love for the Lord and brought up her children in the Lord's ways. She loved her children and was proud of us and all her in-laws. She was wise and had a gift of making us all feel very special, also her many friends. She lived a discliplined life and was able to correct in a gentle manner and expected her children to follow her example. She passed on to us her faith, good manners and a generous nature. It seemed that Mum always got on with things and NEVER complained. She loved life and loved to dance and sing. She was always full of the joys of life. Mum joined the neo-catechumenate community 35 years ago and this was a great part of her life. The community became her second family and this gave her great happiness. Our family is spread far and wide but we have always been very close, and recently with Skype, we have been able to keep in touch with each other. Of her large family who adored her, I am sure that all those who cannot be here today are very sad, but they are with us in spirit. Masses are being offered for Mum all over the world at this time. Mum had 14 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and little Raphael in Heaven. Mum was a very special lady and we children were privileged to have had as our mother. Today we also honour our father, George, who loved our mother dearly and was greatly missed by her after his passing. God bless you all and thank you for coming to celebrate our mother's life here today with us and thank you all for your prayers.