I met Barb when we were both pregnant with our first children in a family hotel in Johannesburg in 1964. We were both newly married and new immigrants to South Africa.and we became firm friends. when my husband and I moved up to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Barbs and Tilly soon followed us and we all settled in Bulawayo, resuming our friendship. Over the next few years, my husband made it clear that he did not like my being friends with Barb as she was very outspoken and often put him in his place! He was a very violent man and so, to keep the peace, we stopped seeing each other...a source of considerable sadness for me, although we did still converse on the phone!. Anyway, when I finally separated from my husband and remarried we lost touch through us being transferred all around the place, and only caught up again a few years later. Barb came out to visit me and her friend Di in Oz around 2010 and I came over and spent time with her in UK in 2011, since when we kept in touch regularly via skype and messenger, The funny thing is, although we had not seen each other for years, we just took up where we left off as though there had been no gap! She was an avid cryptic crossword fan and so am I and we spent hours and hours working out clues together, long in into the night! The world is a sadder, duller place without Barb's sharp, incite-full, passionate mind. Where ever you are now, take care, my friend. xxxx