38 tcf.org.uk Some of you will remember Maggie and I who were involved with TCF over the course of many years. Our daughter Jo was born in 1965, and our son Stephen was born in 1968. On 15th of August 1986 our world fell apart. Stephen had borrowed his mother’s car so that he and his friend Stephen could attend a West Bromwich Albion football ‘preseason friendly’. Tragically on the way home, there was an accident which neither lad survived. Stephen was 18 at the time, had just finished at Grammar School and already had his place at Sheffield University to study electronics. What followed was a period that felt like hell, neither Maggie or I could function and Jo was left trying to support us. Fortunately, Jo read an article in the Birmingham Mail about TCF and suggested this may help us. Maggie contacted the couple featured in the article and they came to Walsall to see us. Our recuperation and an important friendship had begun. This was to be the start of about 30 years active involvement in TCF. We attended several functions, including our first gathering in South Wales, followed by Durham. Living in the Midlands, we already knew Joe and Iris Lawley, two of TCF’s founding parents who lived in Nuneaton. Together with Joe and Iris and a team of volunteers in 1994 we worked together to take on the challenge of commemorating the 25th anniversary of TCF. Maggie and I had worked on many projects professionally, large and small, yet none compared with the first International Gathering where we invited many bereaved parents and siblings to travel to Birmingham from all over the world. 480 TCF members from 14 different countries attended, sharing their experiences and supporting one another. A special service was held at Coventry Cathedral to commemorate 25 years, with Countess Mountbatten in attendance. Maggie and I, together with our friends were involved with every gathering between 1994 and 2000, including the 40th Anniversary Gathering in 1994. We also ran two support groups in Solihull and Walsall and played a leading part in supporting hundreds of bereaved parents from near and far, helping them to smile again. We were delighted when Jo married Chris in 2003 and our only grandchild Hannah Margaret, was born in in 2006. Maggie and Hannah had a very special relationship and in the dark days just before she left us, it was Hannah who was able to make her smile. We visited our Scottish friends’ gatherings in Ayr, Perth and Glasgow, where Maggie was particularly proud when Jo gave a keynote speech on sibling bereavement. Maggie is at peace now and, we believe, reunited with Stephen. To those of you who have only recently started down that long dark tunnel, let TCF reach out to you and support you as it did us all those years ago. To our many TCF friends, we thank you for your love and support of our family over the years. Love to you all. Maurice, Jo, Chris & Hannah Remembering Maggie Humphries Written by Maurice Humphries TCF NEWS | IN MEMORIAM
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