Sarah Patricia do Amaral Osorio (nee Simmonds) 25th April 1974 - 23rd August 2006

 This is a tribute to the life of Sarah Patricia do Amaral Osorio (nee Simmonds) born 25th April 1974 and died very suddenly on 23rd August 2006.  She was just 32 years old. 

Sarah died from a very rare heart condition affecting her auto immune system called Idiopathic Giant Cell Myocarditis. This very rare illness seems to attack young, apparently healthy adults, under the age of forty.   The condition is not hereditary.

The following is the Eulogy that her Father, delivered at her Service of Thanksgiving held on 23rd September 2006 at Holy Trinity Church, Bulcote, Nottinghamshire, England, attended by more than 170 of her friends and relations from all over the world.

Sarah Patricia

If love could have saved you, you would have lived forever.

Sarah was a beautiful, kind, and very loving daughter.

We have been comforted during this terrible time by so many of her friends coming to see us, and telling us how much they loved Sarah.  How they valued her friendship and how many of you have said she was your best friend.

Thank you so much everyone for coming here today, especially Lucie and Gary, who have travelled from the other side of the world to be with us.

Sarah was such a happy child.

She loved her early years at school, so good at writing, drawing and craftwork. She had a very happy childhood and we were so proud of her. She followed her older brother into many of the same schools three years after him, and was always very keen to point out to her school friends 'that's my  brother'.  The close bond they shared as siblings started from day one as Jonathan's earliest memory is of collecting his beautiful baby sister from hospital.  From a very young age she became so good at writing that she would often combine illustrations with beautifully composed rhymes and cartoons.  She would send these personalised cards to relations and friends especially on their birthdays.  Sarah was fortunate to know all her grandparents and they all loved her very dearly.  When my parents died a few years ago I found many of these poems, cards, and thank you notes with their treasured keepsakes.

During school holidays she would often work on school projects, usually focussed around children.  I remember her GCSE project was a very detailed study on setting up a home made chocolate boutique.  Chocolate was always a favourite throughout her life.  One of her A level projects was based on how to solve the problem of lost children in a huge shopping centre.  She was always trying to make things better for children.

Sarah had a wonderful sense of fun and she was always the one in the family who after a huge Christmas lunch, when all we wanted to do was relax, would insist on a board game such as Trivial Pursuit, Pictionary, and in later years Mr and Mrs.  Charades was also a great favourite.  Her enjoyment and laughter at these family occasions will be missed so much.

Sarah excelled in English.  When she eventually left school after GCSEs and A Levels she spent a short time at College doing a Psychology and Typing course.  She then went on to study Journalism Film and Broadcasting at Cardiff University.  It was here that she met her very best friend Lucie and they had rooms next to each other in their brand new halls of residence.

 Laughter and fun were never far from Sarah.

This year all the family, (Carlos, Sarah, Isabelle, Barbara, Jonathan, Patricia, and I) spent a lovely week together in Portugal and Sarah loved devising the evening entertainment insisting that all of us took turns to provide a show.  Magic shows, puppet shows, games, we had such a lovely time.

She loved the world of entertainment and celebrity from a very eary age, and when she was a teenager we remember having such a hectic time with her following the Radio One Road show around the UK.  Her fascination with how radio and television programmes were put together led her to have the ambition to become a children's programme producer.

When she left University it was no surprise that her Journalism Film and Broadcasting degree led her into the world of radio and television as a reseacher working with so many celebrities.  She worked for a time on Talk Radio and  was also asked to take on the organisation of the Elle Style Awards.  She moved into television and especially loved working on the Light Lunch and Late Lunch shows with Mel and Sue, the Gloria Hunniford show, and the Jeremy Clarkson show.  During this time she met so many famous people and she would always enjoy telling us what they were really like in real life.  She made a great friend of George Lazenby, the former James Bond, and she delighted in telling people that she had James Bond's mobile number programmed into her phone.

Sarah loved singing and had a wonderful voice.  From a very early age she learned the recorder and later the clarinet.  She was always modest about her achievements but she loved musicals and sang at a four day master-class at the West End production of Le Miserables.

When she met and married Carlos she was so happy.  Isabelle was born and she enjoyed every moment of each day with her.  Their wedding in this church just a few years ago was such a happy day.

Last year Sarah, Carlos and Isabelle had an eight week trip to New Zealand and Australia, using the time well before Isabelle started full time school.  It was a wonderful trip for all of them.  Their happiness can be seen through the website photographs that they set up for everyone to follow during their travels.

Her finest role was as Mother to Isabelle.  She loved everything about being a Mother and was very good at it.  She would ring or text us almost every day of her life to tell us what she and the family were doing.  They were all so happy.

It was her love of all children and teaching that led her to pursue the desire to be a Montessori teacher to young children.  With Isabelle at school she would study at home and produced assignments that achieved very high marks right from the outset.  She would certainly have made a great teacher.

We spent a lovely week with her in York just over a month ago at a Summer school teaching course where we were able to look after Isabelle during the day while Sarah attended the intensive course.  We all enjoyed breakfasts and evenings together.  She swam in the hotel pool with Isabelle every evening after studying all day, and when Isabelle went to bed she would continue her studies.  She took a practical exam at the end of the course, but never saw her result.  Of course she passed with a very high mark.  Sarah would have made a wonderful Montessori teacher.

We all miss Sarah's sense of humour, her smile, her laughter, her caring nature, her love, and her talent for knowing what is really important in life.  One of her greatest gifts was bringing people closer together and it's very fitting that so many of you have been able to join her family here today in remembering our beautiful daughter Sarah.

Remember Sarah  

To the living, I am gone

To the sorrowful, I will never return

To the angry, I was cheated

But to the happy, I am at peace

And to the faithful, I have never left

I cannot speak, but I can listen

I cannot be seen, but I can be heard

So as you stand upon the shore

Gazing at the beautiful sea, remember me

As you look in awe at a mighty forest

And its grand majesty, remember me

Remember me in your hearts,

In your thoughts, and the memories of the

Times we loved, the times we cried, the

Battle we fought and the times we laughed

For if you always think of me, I will

Have never gone.

(This Eulogy was delivered by Sarah's father, Christopher Simmonds)

Carlos, Sarah's husband, gave the following brave tribute.

Hello.  The first thing I'd like to say is thank you for coming here today.

Whether you have travelled from the other side of the world ... or from just the other side of the village ... I want you to know how much we appreciate you being here.

Knowing the kind of person she was ... I am sure Sarah would probably be a little embarrassed that we were making such a fuss over her ... but your presence here today just confirms how much of an impact she had on all of our lives.

She'd be devastated to miss seeing you all here ... but I am sure she is looking down on us ... and taking great pride and joy in seeing you here ... especially seeing amongst us so many young ... beautiful ... smiley faces.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your kindness and support in the last few weeks ...

The many messages, cards, letters and best wishes.  You have been wonderful ... loving ... and generous in your love,  Thank you.

Before I go on to say a few words about Sarah, I would like also to say ... in front of you all ... a special thank you to you Isabelle.

Isabelle, you are your mother's daughter.  And mummy was - and still is - so very proud of you.  You have your mummy's quiet strength ... and like she did ... you are doing a fine job of looking after your daddy.

You were absolutely right when you greeted the news that mummy had died as "the worst news ever" ...

But I think that you are ... at times ... already much more grown-up than your five and a half years.

Isabelle, I have taken so much strength from you in the past weeks ... and you have kept me on my toes with your very logical and grown-up questions ... especially about mummy being in heaven:

• What is she wearing? ... We agreed a pretty dress ... pink ... of course.
• Does she sleep? ... I think so.
• Can she see us when it is cloudy? ... Oh yes.
• And what does she eat in heaven? ... To which my response was to say when you are in heaven you get to eat "all your favourite foods". Isabelle's reply was to wonder aloud whether she would be able to have "fish fingers and chips ... every day?"

Isabelle, as your daddy ... there are some things I do know ... and some that I don't know.  But I do know this:  mummy loved you with all her heart - and she still loves you - and she is watching over us right now - sending you (and all of us) ... some kisses in the wind.

And so to my darling Sarah ... I have a few words of thanks for you too.

Thank you for letting me into your life.  From the miracle of our chance meeting ... the moment we exchanged furtive glances across a crowded pavement at Leicester Square ... to exchanging a few words in a crowded bar some hours later ... and for scribbling your phone number on a scrap of paper.  Thank you for daring to take that chance.

Sarah you were a breath of fresh air in my life.

I worked in a bank ... you worked in television.  My company was city banker types ... whilst you mingled with the stars.  I was a boy from London's suburbs ... you lived in the centre in Pimlico ... and could hear Big Ben in the distance.  I couldn't then - and still really don't - believe my luck.  You quite literally picked me up from the street corner ... and from that day onwards made me into a better person.

Sarah, being with you gave me strength I didn't know I had.  The strength to start a family.  At the birth of Isabelle, whilst in the midst of the final excitement, when perhaps you should have been concentrating on the task ... you held my hand tightly ... and I am sure ... kept me from passing out.

They say that bringing up a child is difficult and challenging.  Doing it with Sarah was effortless ... being a mother was a role she adored.

Sarah your strength gave me the courage to change jobs and move us to Nottingham.  I could never have done this without you.

It was you that believed that Bulcote and Burton Joyce would be right for us ... and you were, of course, right.  You and Isabelle have made so many friends here in the village ... you so much enjoyed living here amongst these wonderful friends.

Just over three years ago we were in this lovely church celebrating our wedding day.  It was a very special day when, as now, we were surrounded by our family and friends.

I know how much you just enjoyed having those that you loved (and that loved you) around you.  Like now.  It was a special day.

Sarah you took great pleasure in the simple things in life.

For example, your greatest pleasure was to recount to me - when I returned from work - that Isabelle had had friends round for tea and that they had left their plates clean ... polishing off the food that you had lovingly made for them.

Coming home in the evenings I would often enter the kitchen ... which could often look like a bomb had exploded.  You and Isabelle would be covered in flour ... or some such ... most probably with some chocolate too ... and you'd have the biggest smile on your face as there in the middle of the table would be some fresh cookies or cake.

The best welcome home you could ask for.

Many of you know that Sarah had started to study to become a Montessori teacher.  She had just completed a two week course and exam.  She never got to know her result ... which, despite the usual self-doubt ... she had passed without any problem.  We joked that neither of us could really explain - in a few words - what the Montessori method was all about.

My attempt for you today would be to say that it was about treating every child (or person) as an individual ... accepting everyone as different ... with different ability and different needs ... and what really mattered was creating the right environment for the child to thrive with confidence ... at their own pace.  In fact, to put the teaching bit to one side ... I believe that this is how Sarah lived her life.

In the last few weeks I have found myself asking myself ... more than ever ..."what would Sarah do?" ... and the answer usually becomes clear.

Sarah, you were brave too.  An everyday braveness ... to face up to fear or uncertainty ... small or large.

And for someone who didn't like flying, you did pretty well on our various trips.  Last year we were lucky enough to spend a few weeks together as a family in New Zealand and Australia.  That time now seems all the more precious.  I recall how on the way home you leaned over to me and said triumphantly ... that if you could fly to the other side of the world ... you ... we ... could quite literally go anywhere!  In fact it wasn't long before Sarah was plotting how we could find an excuse to go back.

Your bravery rubbed off on me ... with you I felt I could do anything.

Sarah, I loved every day I was with you.

Any disgreements we had were usually reserved for the trivial ... such as ... the relative merits of buying organic versus normal regular tomato ketchup.  Or perhaps I expressed my frustration with your time- keeping ... as some of you will know ... Sarah was renowned for struggling to be on time.

Sarah ... over the years ... I had grown accustomed to having to wait patiently for you ...

And so you can imagine how difficult it is for me to find myself in this unusual position ...

Of having now ... to ask ... that you ... wait for me.

email address : christopher@chris-simmonds.com

Sarah's best friend and bridesmaid, Lucie Morris, came from Sydney, Australia to give her tribute at the Thanksgiving Service.

My beautiful friend Sarah.....

It was with remarkable good fortune Sarah sparkled into my life with a giggle and a handshake as we stood in the queue for the keys for our rooms on the very first day of university.  We were not only given rooms next door to each other but we also discovered we were even studying for the same degree.  Sarah quickly became the greatest friend I could ever have hoped for.  I'm so honoured to be asked to speak about her and to be honest I could easily stand here for several days talking about her non-stop.  Thanks to Sarah, uni was centred around laughter, singing and fun.

There is just so much to say about such an amazing friend.  Not only was she an absolute beauty with her gorgeous dark curls and flawlless skin she was simply joyous, witty and delightful company, leaving everyone she encountered feeling like they were walking on air. 

She quite literally lit up our lives in our university halls, enchanting everyone with a knack of making shy people feel ten feet tall.

It was clear from the start that Sarah treasured family values of sharing, listening and most of all utter kindness.  It was obvious that because Sarah felt so secure and cherished by her own family, she was able to be such a generous and giving person so freely.  She often said that she felt so lucky to have such a supportive and loving family, and told me she loved the special bond she shared with her mother Patricia who was always there for her whenever she needed her.

Sarah was never interested in the hedonistic ways students are famous for, but the simple pleasures that life brings for free.  We loved to go out dancing and she so enjoyed being with her friends chatting and singing along to her favourite CDs.  Her soprano voice was so remarkable and pure with an ability to hit the highest of notes, we used to ask her to sing to us during nights in.  In fact Sarah totally adored music, confidently following her own path, converting us all to the country music scene and a host of disco divas including Whitney Houston and Celine Dion.

She so appreciated talent and could identify it from a mile away, and in later years you could guarantee her tip for the winner of the latest Pop Idol or X-Factor would always be spot on.

I was thrilled when I worked with Sarah on a local hospital radio station in Cardiff in the third year because she provided such an amazing array of music and jokes for our show.  It was so lively and the talk of the station.  What Sarah also became known for at university was her love of wearing hats - berets and felt bowler hats were a favourite and she always looked perfectly groomed to match.

She really must have been the smartest student in history.

When we both started our careers in London I was so pleased we became flatmates again in Pimlico, Central London.

The singing, laughter and talking into the early hours started all over again.

For Sarah it turned out to be a glamorous time in her life, mixing with television stars and celebrities and she would come home buzzing with excitement with stories about the people she had met and interviewed.  I can still hear her roaring with laughter as she told me how the boxer Chris Eubank was calling her constantly begging to be let into a celebrity party which she was organizing.  She was a fantastic mimic and carried off his voice brilliantly.

Our flat became party central for the three years we lived there.  We had a karaoke machine and sang songs constantly while dancing around the lounge.  Occasionally, the phone would ring and we would hear the voice of a neighbour saying  "We can hear you, you know." 

Living in central London allowed Sarah to fuflill her love of musicals and she saw some of her favourite shows dozens of times. 

We were both dazzled by Adam Garcia, the lead star of Saturday Night Fever who was a fantastic dancer so Sarah sent an invite to him and his girlfriend for an event she was organizing, never expecting him to turn up.  I will never forget the moment he suddenly appeared next to her and started doing the moves to Saturday Night Fever.  Sarah was absolutely astonished.  And completely thrilled.  Of course she was too modest to realise that celebrities like him were just as thrilled to be in her company as she was in theirs.

Although Sarah adored her glamorous days in London, her head was never turned by superficial things in life. It was always clear that her real ambition was to have a family of her own, being true to herself and her values.

Gillian Flynn, one of Sarah's many friends from the village gave the next tribute.

I first met Sarah about five years ago when she turned up at the local toddler group with Isabelle who was then about 10 months old.  I have nothing but good memories of her.  What more can you say about one of the kindest, considerate people around.  I would like to share with you a few of my memories of her and some of the things that other friends of Sarah have said about her in the past few weeks.

One friend described Sarah as beautiful - which she was, but not just superficially beautiful.  Sarah was beautiful all the way through, beautiful in the things she said and did and in the way she did them.

I have so many memories of Sarah and the different things we did together, like the time last year when we went to Sherwood Pines shortly after Isabelle and my sons Alastair and Donald had all learnt to ride their bikes without stabilisers.  We had a wonderful day there with a picnic lunch and a cycle ride and a walk through the woods picking blackberries and we finished off by stopping at the local family pub for an evening meal with the children.

The last time I saw Sarah was when we spent the day again at Sherwood Pines this year and again went for a bike ride with the children.

Sarah loved children and had endless patience with them.  I can't even imagine her losing her temper with a child.  Watching Sarah with Isabelle would frequently make me reassess the way I work with my children.  She used to go into school and listen to the children reading to her and many of the children have said how they enjoyed reading with her.  Sarah had recently stood for and been elected as a parent governor showing her commitment to the development of the local children.  She would have made an excellent job of that if she had been permitted the time to do it.

We have been talking a lot about Sarah in the past few weeks as this has hit so many people hard and everyone has a special memory of her.  I have heard about the time when one of Sarah's neighbours could hear the family in the garden in the heat of July obviously having a wonderful time laughing away.  Sarah had such a wonderful laugh.  On the last day of term one of the toddlers at school cut his hand just after the schoolchildren had been dropped off and Sarah produced a wipe and a plaster - she was always organised.  Another friend told me of the time that some of Isabelle's schoolwork blew off the roof of the car and Sarah calmly walked around the road picking it all up from between passing cars - Sarah always did everything calmly and without fuss.

One friend of ours, Jane, moved to Melbourne in Australia and she described how Sarah gave her a present only to be opened once they arrived in Australia.  When Jane opened the present three months later when her luggage arrived, it was a snowman with a sign saying 'friendships never melt'.  That is just typical of the thoughtfulness of Sarah in everything she did.

One of the best things about Sarah was to see how good a mum she was.  And she wasn't just a mum to Isabelle, she treated her like a friend.  They did things together.  Sarah was absolutely wonderful with Isabelle and had so much time for her.  She was always there for her.  Sarah would never dream of leaving Isabelle where she wasn't completely happy and spent lots of time with her building her confidence through new experiences with her.

Sarah had a great sence of fun - we have had a few evenings where a group of us have got together for a meal and play a few board games.  I can remember Sarah's laugh above everything else of those evenings.  She had such a serene face, but what a mischievous laugh!  Sarah was great friends with another friend Sarah Vokes and Sarah Osorio loved Sarah Vokes' karaoke machine.  They would have a whale of a time singing along to that whilst the children were at school.

Sarah was very keen to go on the X Factor and had talked Sarah Vokes into doing it with her.  The two Sarahs also enjoyed kick-boxing together which is not something you would immediately associate with Sarah but she loved it.

Sarah Vokes and Kirsty, two of Sarah's close friends have taken on the catering for today as a tribute to Sarah.

On a lighter note Sarah loved having fun but one thing she loved even more than that and that was chocolate.  She didn't have many vices - she didn't smoke, she didn't drink, she only ate organic food, but she did like chocolate!

Also see http://www.justgiving.com/sarahosorio