I stood in front of the headstone which read ‘Rita Rocca Nee Tomlin (15/6/1942 - 21/10/2020)’ and thought, ‘Is this all there is? Her name on a headstone with mine to follow.’
I remembered a warm May Day in 1948, when we both kneeled at the same altar waiting for a priest to give us our first taste of Jesus.
She, in her white dress, was wondering if the day would yield enough for a new doll and pram, while I wondered if mine would yield enough for roller skates and maybe a new football.
I recalled the honeymoon in Jersey in 1963, Miss World at the Royal Albert Hall in 1980, and the ball that followed at the Savoy Hotel.
I said, “Sorry girl, I can’t give you a Taj Mahal, but I will write a book, which will hopefully make us more than just names on a tombstone.”
D.D. Rocca - (the first D is for Donal and the second one is a state secret) has lead a life at sea principally as a radio operator on a range of merchant vessels with so many worldwide a ........
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