Sarah Hall Eulogy Hi everyone. On behalf of all the family I would like to thank you for attending Sarah’s Celebration of Life today. For those of you who don’t know me, I am Aimee; I am Sarah’s son David’s partner. For those of you who know Sarah well, she was the life and soul of the party and if she was here now, she’d be rearranging this alter as there is no coffee table. She always had to make space for dancing! Sarah Teresa Hall was wife to Dougie, mum to Mairi and David, mother-in-law to me & Chris and fabulous gran to Sophie, Ethan and Finn. She was also the youngest sister of Moira, Hugh and Agnes and a cousin and aunt to many. She was loving, understanding, hilarious, kind, easy going, empathetic, non-judgemental, full of fun, welcoming and a force of nature. She was brave and fearless. She taught us how to face troubling times with fortitude and fun. She was dealt with some tough cards in life and played them all well and made us better people. She was intuitive, intelligent, and extremely creative. Sarah had an eye for colour and style and could famously pick an entire outfit for an important occasion in an hour or two. She was quick-witted, sharp-tongued. She could take something others wouldn’t notice and have a good laugh about it. You could have the same conversation with Sarah for hours and never get tired of it. Sarah’s dad said that she could create fun out of a paper poke, and this was so true. She could light up a room, by just being in it. Sarah like many of us, did have her faults though. She had no balance ability and managed to fall off a pogo stick at a barbecue before there was any wine involved and ended up in A&E. She was messy, disorganised and who knows why she kept a phone diary as she always got appointments mixed up or forgot about them. She could not eat a yoghurt or a piece of fruit without it ending up down her top. She always said she was turning into her mother. She was really competitive and immature. She leaves this world as the undefeated arm wrestle champ against David, bearing in mind she refused to have an arm wrestle since was David was 10! She would never let anyone win anything! Sarah completed John and Mamie McKee’s family. She was born on the 30th of March 1958. Sarah was brought home on a sunny Easter day to 11 Brackenhill Avenue in Onthank. Moira remembers that day well and watching her new baby sister while sitting on the couch and recalls how much Sarah was loved from the get-go. Well, she was until she got a little older and her siblings realised that they were all dark and Sarah was fair. Moira told Sarah that she was adopted and for years Sarah believed that her birth certificate was under their dad’s hut at the end of the garden. Sarah had great loving childhood. She was very confident, and Agnes said she was always the one to hold her hand on many occasions and gave her the confidence to try something new or do something different. When they were young Agnes put the penny in the phone box and Sarah did the talking and never stopped since then. Sarah wasn’t one for being quiet. She attended the brand-new Mount Carmel Primary, was well liked, and had many friends. It wasn’t until Primary 7 when a new girl called Eleanor Mowat from Glasgow arrived. Sarah wasn’t happy that someone was trying to knock her off her perch. It wasn’t until they both ended up in the same class at St Joseph’s Academy that they became the best of friends; a friendship that was extremely special to Sarah and lasted throughout her whole life. Sarah would talk fondly of her teenage years spending lots of time in Stewarton where Eleanor lived. They played lots of sports, attended many dances, and got up to quite a bit of mischief. During Sarah’s teenage years she was diagnosed with a tumour on her pituitary gland. An extremely scary time for Sarah and her family. The tumour had to be removed which meant a huge operation and Sarah’s hair was all shaved. Sarah’s resilience shone through and Graham a friend visited and said he was so impressed that a 14-year-old girl could advocate so well for herself. This was just so typical of Sarah. Sarah was bright and smart but liked partying more than studying and just expected to pass her exams. She didn’t do fantastically well in her exams and Mamie said she needed to do something, so she signed her up to do a Medical Secretary course at college. She wasn’t completely overwhelmed by this idea, but the skills she learned were invaluable. Skills that she carried and built upon in all her jobs. From temping at Caledonian Paper, to SAMH, Open Access, The Wise Group, Careers Scotland, and Scottish Enterprise. These jobs saw her working all over Scotland and making lots of good connections and friends along the way. Sarah had a passion for helping others and helped many people with CV writing and interview preparation. Agnes recalls Sarah and Dougie tutoring her for her first important interview. She remembers on the eve of the interview pacing their living room carpet and them constantly saying ‘Again Agnes, again. If you can’t do it in front of us, how can you expect to perform in front of strangers?’ No one was more surprised than Agnes when she got the job! She progressed far from being a breakfast waitress at the Howard Park Hotel. It was at a disco night at the Howard Park Hotel when Sarah clapped eyes on the handsome chef Dougie Hall. He was an Edinburgh interloper who had come to Kilmarnock with his team to work in the hotel. Unfortunately, Agnes had a bit of a crush on Dougie and had first dibs as she was working there, but Sarah made her move first. After two drunken marriage proposals Sarah finally caved into Dougie’s charms and said yes. She thought she would hedge her bets on man who would lose half his beard in a poker game. They were married here at Mount Carmel on the 9th of June 1979 and Agnes was one the bridesmaids alongside Moira. Due to Sarah’s pituitary issues, Sarah always knew that she would have fertility problems. Dougie said prior to them being married that she was more than enough for him and anything else would be a bonus. Her mum Mamie loved him even more after that. In true Sarah style she refused to accept that she wouldn’t have children. After she was married Sarah was a Medical Secretary on a Gynaecological Ward in a hospital in Glasgow and after a chance conversation with a consultant learned of a new treatment which she could possibly receive. In April 1982, Dougie and Sarah welcomed Mairi Jane into their family. Mairi was the 4th baby in the UK to be born using this treatment. Sarah was always so proud of this fact. In March 1984 Sarah was back in the same ward and David John was born. One of the doctors said, ‘Oh we had a patient like you a couple of years ago’ and Sarah said, ‘yes that was me, I was here having my daughter and now I am here having my son’. Sarah would never let anything stand in her way. Sarah was blessed with her family and Moira says that Dougie, Sarah, Mairi and David were wound tight like a ball of Shetland wool. Mairi and David were the light of their life, and they were all extremely close. Sarah and Dougie were both extremely proud of their children and everything that they achieved. Inchmurrin Drive was a warm and happy place with lots of laughs and family get togethers. There was always lots of comings and goings. Dougie would say it was like Sauchiehall Street on a Saturday. Mairi and David’s friends were always welcome if they could pour a decent white wine spritzer! As you all know Dougie had a lot of health problems, but this never dampened their spirits or their zest for life. They were both risk takers and had a belief that everything was going to be okay. They grabbed every opportunity that came their way. They were not only husband and wife but best friends, supported each other and would talk a million times a day. Mamie used to joke that Sarah couldn’t go anywhere without Dougie calling to see what she was up to. They loved other dearly and in April 2001 Dougie sadly passed away leaving a massive whole in all their lives. Sarah was a figure of strength and resilience for her kids during this difficult time and if possible, they became even closer. Sarah always encouraged her kids to live life to the full and cease every opportunity. As a mum, Sarah was just the best – there is simply no other way to explain it. She wasn’t just a mum, she was an advisor, agony aunt, cheerleader, counsellor, plus one, personal shopper, drinking buddy, career advisor, dance partner and best friend. She wasn’t a pushover and as a parent was very strict and believed in discipline but was always fair. Lots of you here today may have experienced the one eyebrow glare. Without using any words, you would know if you had overstepped and to move off her chair or not to use her favourite mug. In the early days of my relationship with David, I had experience of Sarah’s stare and once in private referred to her as ‘Scary Sarah’. Unbeknown to me, David told Sarah this and when we next met Sarah looked straight at me with the raised eyebrow and said ‘So, Scary Sarah?’ I was absolutely mortified. Over the years we really laughed about this and that’s one of the things we will all miss about Sarah is her infectious laugh. Sarah loved having a laugh and once told her niece Kirstin that the record player in her house only played Van Morrison songs and she believed it. Sarah was a huge Van the Man fan, but also loved James Taylor, Neil Diamond, Paul Simon, Tracey Chapman to name a few. Music was always being played in the house and on car journeys when Mairi and David were growing up and played a huge part in all their lives. Sarah loved a concert and even went to see Little Mix at the Hydro with Sophie and Mairi. She insisted on having VIP passes, wore a Little Mix t-shirt and bought all the merch. She didn’t care that she didn’t know any of the songs, she just loved days and nights out with her family. Throughout all her life it was important to her to create memories and experiences with the people she loved. Sarah was a keen knitter. She had more of a passion for buying expensive wool and needles than she did finishing a project. She once took Dougie into a knitting shop to buy wool for another ‘project’ and Dougie couldn’t believe the price of the wool. The model in the shop window had a jumper on which was already knitted. Knowing Sarah’s reputation for not finishing many jobs, he asked the shop assistant how much it was to buy the jumper in the window as it would be cheaper. He always said that if he ever found someone walking around Kilmarnock with one arm and a back, he would have lots of jumpers for them to wear! In the last few years, she took up a hobby of knitting socks. She decided that she would make her son in law Chris a lovely pair of socks for his Christmas present. On Christmas morning Chris opened his gift only to find one sock inside. He asked where the other one was only to be told that she hadn’t finished it, but he would get it. And true to her word, he got the other sock wrapped up as a gift for his birthday in May! Sarah always wanted to sing and a few years ago joined local choir Achoired Taste as an alto even though she always thought she was a soprano. She loved singing in their summer and Christmas concerts and made many good friends there. She loved music and after a chance meeting with the Ayrshire Ukes through her work at Hillhouse, she was invited to join them. Having never played the Ukulele before Sarah took Mairi and Chris down to a guitar shop in Ayr to buy a ukulele. Sarah was the epitome of having ‘all the gear and nae idea’. After a few sessions at the group, a few of the ladies formed their own group called Uku- ladies. This group of ladies met every week at one of their houses and would sing and play and probably chatted and drank more tea and ate more cake than played the ukulele. Sarah still to this day could not play and was always asking Chris to sort her ukulele as it was never in tune. Sarah loved the outdoors; whether it be a walk along Croy Shore with Scruffy or a walk with the Kilmarnock Ramblers who she was member of until recently or a bike ride with her brother Hugh. Sarah bought an electric bike and would like to go out and cycle in the Ayrshire countryside. Sarah’s lack of balance raised its head again and was known to fall off once or twice and have to be rescued by a local farmer and driven home with the bike in his trailer. Sarah also loved a dip in the Scottish sea. Moira says that Sarah was always up for an experience, and she loved their swimming holidays together. She remembers swimming in the sea at Gary Beach in Lewis in the pouring rain and having such a laugh. This open water swimming experience would have come in handy when she went wind surfing in Arisaig and was drifting away to sea when once again and a local fisherman rescued her. The only thing she was embarrassed about was being on a boat with men and she was in a wet suit with no bra on! Regarding bras, Sarah could be found on a Friday night in her chair watching the TV with a few of her favourite wine gums stuffed in her bra to soften them up as they would be too hard for her teeth otherwise. On many occasions she would forget they were there and wake up in the morning with them in bed next to her. She was also an avid reader and could read 3 books in a week and was a member of book group with many of her friends. Mairi was always amazed at how she found the time. She could be found reading a book on her phone, on her kindle or listening to audio books in the evening when cooking her dinner with a glass of wine in hand. Sarah loved to cook. Despite her husband and son being chefs, she didn’t quite have the perfect organisation skills for a career in hospitality. She would invite everyone for lunch at 2pm and we’d all be eating lunch at 7pm. On Christmas morning she would be notorious for having a wee buck’s fizz or two and catching up with David who had arrived from Glasgow the night before. About an hour or two into their conversation David would ask ‘what time have you invited everyone round?’ and her reply would be ‘oh 2pm I better get the turkey on!’ the turkey would be semi frozen in the garage! David would have to pull out all the stops to make sure we were all eating lunch at 7pm. Sarah’s meals were legendary and not always without mishaps if children and dogs were involved but always with generosity and laughter. Sarah was always up for a holiday at any given time. This could a girl’s night away with Mairi & Sophie, a week away with her brother and sisters or a fortnight abroad. Early holiday memories include happy family times in Arisaig. Sarah and Moira trying to rope in feral children, crab fishing, cowrie hunting, bonfires, midnight swimming ending with medicinal Drambuie and Dougie teaching all the kids how to play poker in the caravan with matchsticks. Other holidays include trips to France with the Starrs family and Mamie, where the ducks like to have their fun, if you would like to know more about this then you must ask Agnes. We’re also still sure that Sarah’s niece Fiona still has the 6 of spades in her pocket. There were also the random teletext holidays where the Hall family and Mamie would be dropped off at some random house at midnight in Greece and have no idea where they were. This never bothered Sarah as she always had a great belief that everything would work out, even if David was crying about the fact the house doesn’t have its own pool. People say that parents have done a good job if their children want to hang about with them when they become adults. This is true with Sarah, Mairi and David. David recalls the time he was working at a restaurant in Glasgow and Sarah called the front desk of the restaurant to ask him if he fancied going on a cruise as she had found a last-minute deal. So off they went on their Mediterranean cruise and everyone on the ship thought she had done well for herself as she was with her toy boy. David remembers the time the ship left the dock and in Titanic style fashion everyone was on the deck looking at the city lights of a picturesque Spanish town. David and Sarah were taking advantage of the all-inclusive cocktails at this point and lost track of time. By the time they made it up to the deck to see the ship sail off, they realised they had been at sea for two hours! Sarah had some issues with travelling over the years. She was driving Mairi and David to Leeds for Mairi’s Master’s Graduation Ceremony. They stopped at a service station more than halfway for petrol. It was only when a couple of hours later she saw a sign for Hamilton and that she realised she had driven two hours back up the road towards Glasgow. She would hate us telling you this story as it gave her too much anxiety reliving it. You will all be pleased to know that David took over the driving and Mairi made her ceremony by the skin of her teeth after changing her clothes in the back of the car. Sarah visited David and I in Melbourne for the first time when David turned 30. For some reason she misread or misunderstood the time of her flight home on her plane ticket. Despite Mairi calling her to double check she was right about the time, Sarah was emphatic that she was right only to discover the next morning that she had got the time wrong and had missed her flight home by a whole day. She would never listen though as she always had to be right! Thank goodness she wasn’t in charge of arranging Hillhouse’s uplifts and deliveries as no one would ever receive their furniture. Hillhouse was a huge part of her life. As a young mum she was a House Mother at the Innocents, a charity which her mum Mamie was a founding member. Dougie was also involved at various points and helped as a volunteer with funding applications. Sarah returned to Hillhouse 12 years ago and took up the role as Business Development Manager. She was successful in securing lots of funding and creating many new and exciting projects. She was also instrumental in progressing the charity to where it is today. She was extremely proud of the place Hillhouse had in her local community and was passionate about helping those in need and struggling financially, struggles which she too had experienced in her younger days. She will be missed by the whole Hillhouse team. Family was at the centre of Sarah’s life. She loved spending time with everyone. Whether it be a gin and tonic after work with Hugh on a Friday, a trip to a craft fare with her sisters, a girl’s trip with Mairi and Sophie to see a show or a video call catch up with Ethan and Finn, she loved it all. Her niece Fiona said that she loved with her whole heart and was everyone’s pal. She enjoyed all the family parties with her nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews. She believed that she was part of a great community and took comfort in that. She would be grateful to see you all here today celebrating her life and offering your support to her family at this difficult time. She had great faith and inner sense of peace. As you all know, Sarah had an extremely difficult time as she was in hospital for 9 weeks. She overcame so many hurdles during her stay and we all thought she was on the road to recovery; however, she was given a further challenge that she could not overcome. Sarah was fiercely positive right up until the end and was so strong and brave. The family would like to thank all the staff at The Intensive Care Unit and ward 3B at Crosshouse Hospital for all the fantastic care she received during her time in hospital. Sarah was so grateful for all the care and compassion she was shown and without it, we wouldn’t have had those final weeks with Sarah. Sarah used to say to Mairi and David ‘what would I do without you?’ and their response was always ‘what would we do without you?’ Sarah has always been their support, strength, and comfort when times have been tough and will leave a massive hole in their family’s lives. We will all draw strength from the things that she taught us. It is an honour to stand here and share our memories of Sarah. She will be missed by all but is now reunited with Dougie and her memory will live on in all of us forever. As Sarah would say ‘is it wine time yet?’ Here are a few of our favourite memories of Sarah..

And of course a Grandmother 💜

And of course a Grandmother 💜