Janet Elizabeth Ridley came into the world on March 14th 1951 in Solihull, the youngest child of Barbara and Norman Ridley. She lived happily at 45 Fallowfield Road, Solihull with her parents and her older sister Marion and older brother Brian.

Janet went to Malvern High School for Girls in Solihull where she made good friends who she kept in touch with through the years and some of who are here today. She then went to University in Bradford.

I’ve also recently found out that she trained as a teacher in Bishops Stortford but that she never took it up. Instead Janet decided to go hitch-hiking around Europe with friends and her passion for travelling was born. This passion led her to visiting Marion in Nigeria in 1975/76, which I remember well as Lindsey and I had chicken pox and
she helped to cover our spots in calamine lotion. She also travelled to Malaysia, Thailand and Bali in Indonesia.

This love of travelling also led her to Dubai where she initially went to cover someone’s job for 6 weeks but ended up staying for years! But she did eventually return to England where she finally settled in Bristol where she worked at Digital (where she first met Steve) and joined a choir so she could enjoy her love of singing.

I remember the first time that I met Steve; we had gone to Bristol to collect a piece of furniture as Janet was clearing the house out. We went out for lunch and when Janet opened up her purse to pay Steve said “Look a moth’s just flown out!” and we all laughed. I thought then and there that Janet had met the right person and that as long as Steve could make her laugh they would have a wonderful life together.

Things that I remember about Janet are her renowned cooking skills, or lack of! I think Janet inherited her cooking skills from her mother and would put the vegetables on in January so they would be ready by Christmas! We were all really pleased, and relieved, when we realised what a good cook Steve was so they wouldn’t starve!

Also I remember fondly the ‘faff’ factor, as we like to call it, which all three Ridley siblings suffer from. This usually results in everyone else being ready whilst the Ridley in question will be doing all sorts of things that don’t actually need doing at
that moment. It could be very frustrating but I suppose it was one of the things that made her Janet.

One of the things that I admired most about Janet was when she looked after her mum, our Nanny, when she become ill. Even though Nanny drove her mad and they
often clashed she really took care of her. Steve said the other week that it was impossible to argue with Janet and I think on the most part that was probably true but my Nan managed it! In fact I think that Janet is up there now with Nanny, Granddad, Barbara and Uncle David and that Nanny is telling her off for some misdemeanour!

Janet was always very supportive although she could be blunt such as when Sean and I got engaged after being together for 8 years, Janet replied, “About bloody time!”

There are so many memories of Janet that it is hard to fit all of them in which is why there is a leaflet with some stories from family and close friends which we hope you will enjoy reading. Please also contribute your stories and photos on Janet’s tribute page.

Janet was many things to many people, wife, sister, sister-in-law, daughter, niece, aunt, great aunt, godmother, friend and colleague but to me she was, and always will be Aunty Janet.

Most of all I will remember how lovely Janet was, there are so many wonderful memories of her that it is hard to fit all of them in but I would like to finish with a poem that I hope reflects how we all feel about her, and will remind us to try and celebrate her wonderful life.

The poem is called ‘She is Gone’ by David Harkins

You can shed tears that she is gone
Or you can smile because she has lived
You can close your eyes and pray that she will come back
Or you can open your eyes and see all that she has left
Your heart can be empty because you can’t see her
Or you can be full of the love that you shared
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday
Or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday
You can remember her and only that she is gone
Or you can cherish her memory and let it live on
You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back
Or you can do what she would want: smile, open your eyes, love
and go on.