Abigail Brady
We still can’t believe that Gill was taken from us all so suddenly. It just doesn’t seem real. She was a very special person and we miss her.
Richard and I got to know her properly in 1996 when we went on a boating holiday with her and Andy, Louise and David and Peter and Tamara. This was in the days before smartphones so we don’t have many photos of the holiday but I did find this one.
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We kept in touch after that holiday and saw her and Andy sometimes at the weekend with the kids. In around 2004 I started “fast walking” once a week with Gill and Alexis Setty in Mill Hill village. We did it once and were so pleased with the circular route we found that we carried on doing exactly the same route once a week through the spring and summer for about 15 years. We’re all very fast walkers are loved the fact that it was free, efficient and very good exercise. It also gave us the opportunity to talk through problems we were facing in our lives and give each other advice. Gill was very wise and helped me work out solutions to many things while we were walking.
In the summer of 2011 I was super stressed around the time of my daughter’s bat mitzvah. I had about 40 people coming from Israel and I had 3 functions to arrange as well as the main party. On the Friday afternoon Gill turned up with a home made chocolate mousse for my family event. Without being asked and just as a surprise. I was so touched - it was so typically thoughtful of her.
Gill was so cultured and I’ve no idea how she made time to do all the things she did. Our last outing together was this February when we went to Jewish Book Week together. We saw an interview on a book about Israeli politics.
In early July this year we were in Stockholm. Gill had messaged to say she was going to Italy and we should go for a walk when we were all back home. She’d been to Stockholm a few years ago and on the Saturday - I think the day before she took ill - she was messaging Lisa’s sister who lives in Sweden to ask for recommendations for me. So typically thoughtful of her when she was on holiday herself and I’m sure busy.
Throughout all this time Gill talked about her family a lot. She really loved you all and loved spending time with you. It’s so tragic that someone so special is no longer with us.
I hope all these messages are helpful and I’m sure reinforce what you already know about Gill being a wonderful human being and friend.