With this I stood again handing my mother a larger box, grinning as she took it and lifted the lid. This had
been all Andy’s doing; it contained Photo albums and DVD’s of times in our life that due to being so wrapped up we had often forgotten to include my family in,
not such a big deal to most but I could see in my mother’s face that Andy had
been right, she would have loved to be more involved but her love for me
involved her letting me go and this would let her know that she was more than
welcome back in at any time and that any exclusion on our part was
unintentional. And the hug she gave me let me know that Andy had had a great
gift idea. Next onto the hardest one, I mean Jesus we had struggled what does
one buy Peggy Peabody????

           " Okay this seems to be going well but I am telling you that this was a tough one. Peggy, what can I say? I turned up in New York so lost and alone with nothing much to my name other than the job that had
gotten me a green card. Then one day spending my evening at MOMA just relaxing by taking in the art that they had I met you, or more accurately you decided at that time that you would enter my life. That night you approached me and after a long discussion on my thoughts of the exhibit which felt like a pop quiz at
the time I was whisked off to dinner, a dinner which I think I declined but who will ever know??? I thank god that I was there that night at that opening and that you wouldn’t take no for an answer. I never knew it then but I know now that aside from the day I met Rachel it was the most important day of my life.”

I watched as she paused and looked anywhere but at Peggy trying to compose herself, I knew the speech and
the effect the next few minutes would have on her. Being this open and in public too was a big ask but she was doing it, she said she owed it to the two
women she would talk about to say it out loud for everyone to hear if only this
once if only on this day. She shot me a look of thanks as I squeezed her hand
before she continued.