Linda Watkins will be missed

LINDA Watkins died in Jeffreys Bay last Wednesday after a final and brutal battle with both bone and liver cancer.
She was the wife of Trevor Watkins, chairman of the Jeffreys Bay Ratepayers Association whom she married in July 1975.
Linda had a BA (Fine Arts) degree, and worked as a librarian for several years. But she did many other interesting things.
She painted prolifically, and her works decorate the homes of many friends around the world.
She taught art with great success, most recently in Jeffreys Bay.
Linda was a Tai Chi master and teacher. She taught many people to enjoy this graceful form of exercise.
She was an accomplished Reiki master, formally trained and certified. Many residents of J-Bay have either received treatment from her, or been trained by her.
She joined Hospice in the West in Krugersdorp, where she trained as a grief counsellor. She worked there for many years, and continued in this role with St Francis Hospice when she moved down to the coast. Everywhere she travelled in Kouga she would spot a tiny house, or settlement that she had visited with Hospice.
Linda loved all animals, but she was really crazy about birds and horses. She became an expert horsewoman, amateur vet, and a trainer of note. One of her proudest moments in J-Bay was backing a young horse for the first time, and learning to ride a carriage.
She became famous for her ability to rescue wounded birds. No sparrow fell from heaven that Linda was not prepared to heal.
But Linda's greatest and most lasting achievement was as the mother of three beautiful children. Of all the things she has done, her children bear testimony to her skill as a mother.
Linda did not have a particularly easy life. She survived two brutal attacks, two serious back operations, two cancer surgeries, two difficult births, and a miscarriage, and a caesarian section.
Her standards of propriety, honesty and integrity were high, and woe betide those who did not measure up to them. Linda did not hesitate to let you know if you were being cruel or dishonest, no matter who you might be.
Linda lives on through the influence she had on the lives of so many people. When we are kind to destitute children, when we refuse to lie no matter the consequences, when we try to heal rather than harm, then it is because Linda has shown us how it's done. She leaves us with few possessions, but endless memories.