Lewis, why did you do this?

You know how much we love you. Your wonderful wife, your lovely children, Cathie, Richard and Rob, all the others. And then you left us without saying a word. We all had so many plans, you being always in the centre, somehow. Everything looked so fine, when - was it last September? - we were all gathered in Yorkshire to celebrate Johnny's and Claire's wedding.
Husband, father, Grandfather: you were everything for us. And then came the shock: Lewis Burton who liked a spiritual laugh, because he understood everything, just moved on without giving any notice. To say farewell to him, the church had to be changed rapidly three times because it seemed too small for all those who wanted to be there. When the final curtain closed, we knew that we had lost him for ever.
Now, we don't know whether we should be really happy, that he could leave us without obvious pains, without having to worry too much about us, just with his glass of whiskey in his hand, or whether we should allow us to cry over the loss. Sun Street in Haworth now looks empty. We lost a loving father and friend who was so strong and seemed so unbreakable. Now, we want to be glad over his unique way of going and at the same time we are so endlessly sad. What is, however, a final curtain for a man like Lewis? We will always see him and not the curtain. Remember him with love and loving respect.

Cath and her Dad