I’m very sorry to tell you that Patricia Collins has died.
Patricia, as you may recall, wrote a number of guest posts for me and regularly commented, joining in with our discussions of everything from recycling to charity knitting. She had mentioned to me that she wasn’t well, but I had no idea how ill she was. In fact, Patricia was the person I wrote a letter to last Thursday whilst I sat in the pub with Sam… sadly she never received it… and now I wish I’d sent her an email instead.
The last gift that Patricia sent me
I never met Patricia. She found my blog via a mutual friend, but I now have no idea who that was. She first contacted me towards the end of 2017 and I wrote about her getting in touch here. What a kind person she was: she loved the interaction on the blog, but was concerned about the pressure it put on me to write and respond, so she offered guest blog posts to help things along. I never had to edit what she had written – it always fitted so easily into The Snail of Happiness ethos. In addition, she sent me little gifts and we communicated via email and she inspired me. If I hadn’t written a post for a while she would always drop me a line to check that I was ok and write encouraging words.
I will miss those emails SO much. I will miss my friend who I never met. And I will mourn the fact that we never had the chance to chat over tea and cake and talk about yarn and dogs and saving the planet.
Goodbye, Patricia, and thank you for being such a lovely person
-oOo-
You can read Patricia’s posts here, here, here, here, here and this one, which is a combined one from the two of us.
The Snail of Happiness 
David & Philippa (@EcoCottageWales)
/ November 6, 2019So sorry to hear this, Jan. Very sad news indeed. The world needs lovely people more than ever.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 6, 2019We do, indeed… I hope knowing about her will inspire others
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katechiconi
/ November 6, 2019It’s funny how attached you can become to a total stranger who is also a close blogging friend. I remember being distraught when I found out that Viv had died. Those warm, encouraging, interesting ‘ghosts’ in our computers can be more real and vivid to us than flesh and blood people, sometimes. I’m glad she didn’t just drop off the radar, leaving you wondering what had happened to her. I’m sorry for your loss…
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 6, 2019Although she never received it, the letter did mean that her partner was prompted to let me know. Without it, as you say, I may just have been left wondering. I am feeling astonishingly sad.
I will write to Patricia’s partner pointing towards the posts she wrote and this one so the comments can show what a valued member of our little community she was.
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katechiconi
/ November 6, 2019That’s a great idea…
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nanacathy2
/ November 6, 2019The loss of a blogging friend is as great as the loss of any friend. So sorry to hear that she has passed away, and even if she didn’t read the letter she was in your thoughts.
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Going Batty in Wales
/ November 6, 2019How sad to lose a friend even if the friendship was always in the ether. How sad she never got your letter. Bit how blessed we are by our friendships. We give away our loving and caring but our stock of it never goes down – instead we are richer for it and it is returned to us many-fold. I remember reading some of Patricia’s posts and enjoying them so I too will miss her a little but am pleased that I read them. What a tribute to her that she will be mourned by people she never met but still touched.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 10, 2019I’ve just retrieved this from the spam folder too… do you know if any of your other comments have gone missing?
I’m so glad to have known Patricia, but I wish she had told me that her time was short and I would have written that letter sooner…
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Ann Pole
/ November 6, 2019Very sad news Jan. Friends, whether they be in the flesh so to speak or via electronic/paper are still friends and they leave a hole in the heart. Thoughts and wishes with you.
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tialys
/ November 6, 2019Very sad news. Like Kate, I was really upset when our blogging friend Viv passed away even though we’d never met and, unlike Kate, I’d never even Skyped with her but she definitely felt like a friend.
A lovely tribute to your friend and at least the letter you sent served to make you aware of her passing.
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cedar51
/ November 6, 2019I’m still basically a newbie here, but I have looked at the 1/2 the posts you have linked from Patricia AND now I understand the grief of finding she has gone…and that when you had said that PC has mentioned she was “unwell” you hadn’t realised how “unwell”
the Net is like that…you meet people only by remote – unless you suddenly find that the commentator actually lives not far from you…
On my main blog, I’ve never met any of you personally, even thought Anne L – lives across the “ditch” (affectionate term for sea separating us) in Australia and I live in New Zealand
Go well everyone…
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 7, 2019I’ve met a few of the people who comment here and I’d love to meet more… this reminds me that I must make a bit more effort.
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anne54
/ November 6, 2019That is sad news, Jan. I enjoyed reading her posts and she obviously cared about our world and the people in it. As David and Phillippa said above, the world needs lovely people more than ever. I think that telling her partner about the contribution she made to all of us is a good idea.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 7, 2019I will find a card to send and write a little latter very soon.
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cedar51
/ November 7, 2019I did leave comment…where did it go to?
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 7, 2019As it was your first comment, it has to be approved (I filter out the rare trolls that appear before anyone else sees them), however, now that’s done, all your comments will appear straight away.
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Helen
/ November 16, 2019I thought I had commented on this post but I can’t see it. Perhaps I forgot to press send or something!
Anyway, I am sorry for your loss.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 16, 2019Some comments seem to be ending up in the spam folder, even though they are written by regular contributors… I’ll go and check for yours.
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Helen
/ November 17, 2019Thank you!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ November 20, 2019Well, I didn’t find your comment, but there were hundreds of spam comments over the last couple of weeks (mainly for one very old post), so I might have overlooked it… anyway, I’ll keep a closer eye on the spam folder from now on.
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Helen
/ November 20, 2019Spam is such a pain!
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Kim
/ November 7, 2019It’s always sad to lose any friend – virtual or otherwise.
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cambridgearomatherapy
/ November 7, 2019So sorry Jan,
I have read some of her posts, even though I am not particularly a dog or knitting person and have enjoyed reading them.
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Nice Piece of Work
/ November 8, 2019Sad news about your lovely friend. All losses are hard. xxx
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quietwatercraft
/ November 8, 2019So sorry you’ve lost a friend, that’s always hard no matter how physically close they are xx
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wybrow1966
/ November 9, 2019So sorry to hear your news – as I have not been visiting your site for very long I had not picked up on your guest blog spot. I will go back and read some of her posts. It is funny how quickly a community can build up on line and connections become just as important as meeting with someone in person. Take care of yourself.
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