To: Grainne who wrote (20665 ) 4/21/1998 10:12:00 PM From: Abner Hosmer Respond to of 108807
Grief-stricken former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney has scattered the ashes of his wife Linda in the pastures and woodlands at her beloved family farm in southern England, British newspapers reported Tuesday. "Only Sir Paul and their four children were present after they decided not to tell even close family and friends until after the funeral," the newspaper said. "They enjoyed the best days of their lives at their farm. It's where Linda wanted to be laid to rest," the Mirror quoted an unidentified family friend as saying. McCartney, who had spent only one night apart from Linda in their 29-year marriage, was described by friends as "shipwrecked." McCartney cradled his dying wife, Linda, in his arms and talked her through the final stages of cancer after the disease took a sudden turn for the worse, friends said Tuesday. "They were the ultimate soul mates. Throughout their married life they were like each other's twin," he said. Close friend Carla Lane, a British television writer and animal rights campaigner, said Linda and Paul had been riding near their Santa Barbara home in California two days before her death. On the day she died, she was simply too tired to get out of bed. "He got into bed with her and lay with her and said everything was going to be all right. He didn't go to sleep. He held her and talked to her through the night," Lane told reporters. In a statement released today by his publicist, McCartney said, ''In the end, she went quickly with very little discomfort, and surrounded by her loved ones. The kids and I were there when she crossed over. They each were able to tell her how much they loved her.'' McCartney said, ''Finally I said to her, 'You're up on your beautiful Appaloosa stallion. It's a fine spring day, we're riding through the woods. The bluebells are all out and the sky is clear blue.' I had barely got to the end of the sentence, when she closed her eyes and gently slipped away.'' dailynews.yahoo.com dailynews.yahoo.com dailynews.yahoo.com