私のプログ「徒然の旅の話」の第１章プロローグ、第５章イギリスの旅、そして第６章ロンドン滞在の各章の中で度々名前が出てきたシーラ(Sheila Morgan) は、私が１９６１年の高校２年（彼女は高校１年生）から今年（２０２１年）の３月まで文通を続けてきた友達(pen friend)でした。シーラは昨年癌を患い、それにも拘らず今年の３月まで手紙（３・４年前から電子メール）が来ました。しかしそれ以後から彼女からの手紙が届かなくなりました。シーラの家の隣のダフニ(Daphne Wilks)やシーラの長男のリチャード(Richard Miller)から亡くなったとのメールが無いので、私はまだカーディフの病院で闘病中（治療生活中）と思い、治るのを願って待っていました。
しかし６０年以上続いた文通はここに終わりました。そして私とシーラの日英間の小さな、本当に小さな絆と外交も終わりました。
ここにプログの読者の皆様に「その小さな絆と外交」の終わり対する、私とデービッドのメール（原文のままで）を紹介したいと思います。
①シーラが亡くなったのは１１月２６日の金曜日、デービッドがメールしてくれたのが１２月３日、私が気付いたのが１５日（メールをしてくれるのがシーラだけで、その彼女は入院中でメール無いと思っていた為、気付いたのが遅れた。）でした。
2021年12月03日 午後 11:03受信
Hello Yoshi
I hope all is well with you and your family in Japan.
I write with some sad news about my Mother Sheila. After her long, 18-month battle against Cancer, Mam passed away peacefully on Friday 26th November in 1725. Sarah, Sheila (Mam's Friend) and I were all at her bedside when she died.
While it is sad news, it wasn't really a surprise to any of us considering she fought bravely against the disease for such a long time which has given us all time to prepare mentally and emotionally for what has happened. In her final days, Mam was also ready to move on.
Mam has always held her friendship with You in high regard, keeping photographs and letters from You safely for all this time.
Mam's funeral service will be held on Wednesday the 15th of December at 1200 noon, and because of Covid-19, only close family can attend.
Kindest regards from your family in Wales
Richard, Alison, Lloyd, Lowri, Sarah, Michael, Megan and Sheila x
②シーラが亡くなった知らせに対する私の返信。
Dear Richard
It shocked me very much to know that you sent me an e-mail about the sad news which Sheila passed away not worth the long cancer treatment . I don’t know how to express my sorrow. At one point she was saying that her illness would recover, and she could be discharged from the hospital. Life is transient.!! I would like to fly to Wales now, and say "Thank you for everything Sheila had done for me and goodbye". I would like to send her my feelings from Japan with telepathy in memory of Sheila.
Anyway, thank you very much for letting me know about the end of Sheila's death. As I neglected to check the e-mail on my computer, I am very sorry for the delay in noticing your e-mail.
I would like to close this email with my sincere condolences. Please give my best regards to your family.
Yours sincerely,
③ ②の私の返信に対しリチャードからメール。 受信は１２月1７日
Yoshi
Thank you for your condolences. It means a lot to us. I wrote a short Eulogy for Mams funeral service which was held yesterday. It was a perfect service to celebrate her memory and lots of friends and family attended. Please take the time you read the eulogy which I have attached to the email, I believe you will find it interesting.
Please received our best wishes for the future and the best of health.
Kindest regards from your family from Wales,
Richard.
メールに添付されて来たシーラへの賛美文
Eulogy for Mam, from Richard and Sarah.
Sheila Mary Miller was born Sheila Mary Morgan on the 15th of June 1946 near Neath, to her wonderful parents Ivor and Sal.
Mam had a modest, yet happy childhood growing up in a small rural village in Powys called Coelbren, which is situated on the very northern edge of the South Wales Coalfield and on the southern boundary of the Brecon Beacons National Park.
As was for a lot of Welsh people at the time, the mining industry played an important part in her upbringing. Her father worked most of his life as a surface worker at the local pits.
Mam often recounted stories of her and her brother Kenneth helping their mother with the growing of fruit and vegetables in the garden, cooking family meals together and baking the most delicious Welsh cakes imaginable.
Under her mother’s orders, She would often stand guard over the stove to prevent her Dad pinching the Welsh cakes directly from the cast iron baking stone on his return home from work when he was usually the most hungry, but typical of Mam’s loving, caring and considerate nature, she’d always let him take one before his bath, gesturing with a finger to her lips that it was to remain their secret. Grandad Ivor would of course tip his beret in acknowledgement to the kind deed. Mam’s special bond with her parents lasted her entire life, and as you can see, there was early evidence of Mam’s considerate nature which became a hallmark of the way she approached all aspects of her life thereafter.
Mam did well in school and always strived to achieve her goals and to further her English writing skills outside of school, she formed a pen pal friendship with a young man from Tokyo called Yoshi, who she still wrote to until just recently – almost her entire life. That was the way with Mam, once a friend, always a friend.
As a teenager, through her hard work and determination, she soon demonstrated exceptional talent in her secretarial skills, which eventually became her career of choice. Her skill and speed in typing and shorthand easily rivalled the best in the industry and allowed her to gain the formal qualifications 資格that eventually opened the door to new opportunities and an avenue for her to carve her own way in the world.
Mam made a huge, yet confident decision to leave Coelbren and Wales at a very young age to seek employment in London and when she found it, she instantly excelled at it. During this time in London, Mam established many friendships that lasted her entire life. Again, that was her way, she was very approachable, quietly confident, and extremely friendly. Some of these friends are here today – Sheila and Christine.
It was through these friendships that Mam eventually met our Dad David, who she soon married back in her home village of Coelbren and within a few short years, Sarah and I were born.
As a mother, Mam was everything a child could want. She was a kind, caring, nurturing, loving mother, who worked her entire life to give Sarah and me the best possible start in life. Growing up, we had very little from a material perspective, not even carpets or heating at home at one stage, but none of that seemed to matter since Mam’s warm, welcoming and giving soul simply eclipsed anything material that was absent in our lives.
It’s clear that Mam’s delightful character left an imprint on every person she came across throughout her life and testament to this are the many messages of condolence that we have received over the last couple of weeks. We’ve received messages from people from all facets of her life including distant family, friends, work colleagues and social groups. These messages clearly articulate Mam's kindness, friendliness, and supreme sense of humor in the best possible light.
After Sarah and I left home, Mam filled her time helping and supporting others, often these people were complete strangers to her. She loved her crafts, be it knitting, cross-stitch, embroidery, or needlework. When she’d finished filling up her family’s cupboards with knitwear, she turned her attention to producing items for charities. There are too many charities to mention them all, but we do recall her knitting several tiny little hats for premature baby wards, she also produced toys as Christmas presents for under-privileged children, some of which made it all the way to Africa. One time we visited for Sunday dinner, nobody could sit down, Mam’s lounge sofa was completely covered with little, knitted Easter chicks that she had produced to raise money for Velindre Hospital, each perfectly shaped to accommodate a cream egg for their lucky recipient.
We will always remember Mam for her kindness and how proud she was of what she had achieved in life. Some of her biggest smiles would come when she proudly became a grandmother to Megan, Lloyd and Lowri. There was never any doubt that she’d play a significant part in their upbringing, offering to babysit and have us around for her legendary Sunday dinners whenever she could. The grandchildren still say to this day that no-one makes a Sunday dinner like Grandma did, despite us parents trying different cooking methods and recipes to challenge her legend.
As the grandchildren grew older, Mam loved to hear news of their development and achievements. She would proudly relay stories of how Megan had started her apprenticeship in a local hairdresser and barbershop and had given her first customer a full haircut and a shave using a cutthroat razor. She thought that was just fantastic.
Mam’s face would light up when she’d hear news of Lloyd and Lowri’s achievements and successes in school, and how they were targeting entry to university to study Medicine or Engineering. Whatever news she learned of the children, she was always 100% behind them and ready to offer her support wherever she could.
Mam never measured what each of her Children and Grandchildren achieved in life, that simply wasn’t her way. All Mam wanted for us all was to enjoy doing whatever it was that we ended up doing and to be happy in our lives. Where encouragement was needed, Mam gave it in her own positive and thoughtful way, not only to us children but to friends and colleagues alike. She was beacon of positivity that people enjoyed being around.
We will miss our mother very much. She brought us into this world and helped to make us the people we are today. It's difficult to accept that she’ll no longer be at the end of the phone or sat in her chair at home to give us the advice and guidance we’ve benefitted from our whole lives. Mam always seemed to know what to say, even if she didn’t have the answer to a particular challenge we faced, she just listened and supported us in her kind and loving way which simply made everything feel better.
Sarah and I were lucky to have Sheila as our mother, and the rest of you here were lucky to have her as a part of your lives. She lived her life selflessly through caring for us and others and always with a joyful presence that people were attracted to. Without any effort at all, even in dire situations, Mam could always find a way to cheer you up, and even make you laugh. This is how we will remember Mam.
Though this is a sad time for those she has left behind, we know that Mam would not want us to wallow in our sadness anytime, and particularly not at this festive time of year. There are special memories to hold on to, and we all have the knowledge that the world was a far better place for having Mam in it. This is the time to celebrate a life that was well lived, in happiness and with the caring for others. We hope you will join us today and for the rest of your lives, in celebrating Sheila.
④ リチャードからのメール③に対する私の返信（２０２１年１２月１8日）
Hi Richard
Thank you for your email and attached eulogy. The eulogy you wrote was very wonderful. I shed tears while reading it. I was glad to hear that you have performed the funeral of the last Sheila Miller very well. I feel very lonely when I am thinking she's no longer in the world.
I started corresponding with her when I was 16 and she was 15 (1961), and we had corresponded about various things each other for over 60 years since then. However, after her marriage, she returned to Wales from London with him. As she went missing after this point in time, I wasn’t only able to send letters to her, but also her letters didn’t arrive.
I've heared that after she and her husband David got divorced, she had a difficult life both financially and mentally. Nevertheless, she brought you and Sarah up well. I think it's natural that you are proud of her. I am also proud of her as the best friend.
She was as hard worker as her mother, very kind and considerate not only to her family but also to everyone, I was really so glad to have such a friend. I can really say that she was my best friend. I am very sad and sorry because she passed away.
Sheila, please rest in peace.
Yoshi
＊このプログを開いた読者の皆様、英文で申し訳ありませんが、原文でないと彼の気持ちが伝わらい部分がありますのでそのまま載せました。
有難う御座いました。
Yoshi