Mrs Vienna - Lesley Anne Berry - R. I. P

Vienna_70 said:
I am genuinely touched by all the sympathy and support I’ve received from my fellow Bluemooners. Your words have been very comforting.

My username is not only a tribute to the city and year that we won our first European trophy, but also to the fact that Lesley was there. She loved her time in Vienna, apart from the weather, during the game.

Her Dad ran three teams from the Old Cock pub in Stretford, though he was originally from Gorton. On one occasion, they reached a cup final; Lesley knew the players would be nervous beforehand, so she sewed up the sleeves of their shirts. By the time they’d worked out what had happened, all the tension was gone, and they won the game easily.

Her favourite player was Mike Summerbee. We had the pleasure of meeting him on two occasions. The first was when the Prestwich and Whitefield branch of the supporters club held an open meeting at Etihad. Mike had us in stitches with his tales of his time at City. After the meeting finished, Lesley went up to Mike, and said, "I wanted to marry you!" to which Mike replied, "No, you picked the right one". We also met Mike at a book signing with @Gary James. Luckily, there were no others waiting to have their book signed, and we were able to have a great chat with them.

We first met on the old BBC City page, where her username was Allison-Joanne, in honour of the management team. She told me that I was the first person to reply to her online.

She was determined that the two grandchildren would grow up as Blues, despite having a Liverpool fan as a dad. They both went to their first game at nine months. The grandson’s was the 1-0 win over Chelsea, in which Carlos Tévez ran half the length of the pitch to score. The granddaughter’s was the first game of the 2012/13 season; a 3-2 win against Southampton. The grandson was with us for the Agüeroooooooooo! game, though he was too young to remember it. He also went to Wembley for the FA Cup victory over Watford and the League Cup win against Arsenal. I will always treasure the memories of being with her at those games, as well as going to the stadium for the Brighton away match, when we clinched the title for Pep's second League title, again with our grandson. Being at Etihad, with her, for the final game of the 21/22 season against Villa will always hold great memories for me.

No, @jimharri, your memory does not deceive you. We did meet for a chat at Etihad, and vented our collective spleen on our shared hatred of dirty Leeds.

Outside football, she loved shopping and giving people presents. There was no greater pleasure in her life than hunting through the clearance items at JC Penney's or Walmart.

And, as I said to her children yesterday, it was rather fitting that she died on the anniversary of the attack on the twin towers, as she loved America and was never happier than when we were at the house she owned with her ex-husband in Florida.
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Some more lovely insight @Vienna_70 .

Who did she like player-wise from the sheikh era (not knocking her undoubted love for Buzzer)?
 
jimharri said:
It sounded like Lesley (Anne?) had a great life V. And you can be proud that you were a major part of it. I can imagine the joy she felt witnessing this last decade or so, and to share that journey with you and with her children and grandchildren. Special memories for all of you. Hopefully, she's at peace now, smiling down on all of you.

Sleep well Lesley Anne.
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Strangely, J, neither of her children are at all interested in any sport, apart from her daughter, watching her own children playing football.
 
Vienna_70 said:
Strangely, J, neither of her children are at all interested in any sport, apart from her daughter, watching her own children playing football.
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I very rarely post condolences, but you've always seemed to be a very level headed poster with a good sense of humour, I feel an affinity with you as we're on the same wavelength - Concentrate on the good times you had together and always, always keep talking to her - all the best for the hard times ahead, but it does get better I promise you that.
 
Onholiday(somemightsay) said:
Some more lovely insight @Vienna_70 .

Who did she like player-wise from the sheikh era (not knocking her undoubted love for Buzzer)?
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The usual suspects; Sergio, Zaba, Vinnie, Jack, Erling Yaya, Dinho,

I’ve just remembered another little snippet.

Several years ago, we were in the car with her daughter and our grandson.

He hadn’t been playing football very long, but he loved it.

Lesley asked him who his favourite player was.

"Sergio and me," was his reply. He never lacked belief in his own ability.
 
Gazza said:
I very rarely post condolences, but you've always seemed to be a very level headed poster with a good sense of humour, I feel an affinity with you as we're on the same wavelength - Concentrate on the good times you had together and always, always keep talking to her - all the best for the hard times ahead, but it does get better I promise you that.
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Thank you, Gazza. That’s very nice to hear.

I doubt I’ll ever stop talking to her.
 
jimharri said:
I'm sorry if my post caused you any distress. It was not my intention to do so.
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Don’t be daft, J. I know you didn’t intend to upset me.

Their dad has no interest in sport, either. Lesley thought it was due, in part, at least, being forced to attend cricket matches and stay all day, when he was very young.
 
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