Author: Tracey
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Today I attended another funeral, but this time it was a real celebration of an amazing life.

My friend Dominique Murray died aged 101½.  The ½ is very important because for most of the 27 years I knew Dominique I didn’t have a clue how old she was.  It was a closely guarded secret and this gregarious woman could have been any age she chose.  It was only as she headed towards her 100th birthday that she saw fit to start boasting about her age, and not unlike children she started to add the fractions onto her years.  She proudly announced to me one day that she was 100 and a quarter.

Dominique had an extraordinary zest for life, she was always immaculately groomed, beautifully dressed, accessorised with the finest jewellery and had the ability to captivate a room when she entered it.  She was charm personified, an entertainer, flirt and a woman who oozed confidence.  

At her 100th birthday party which a hundred people attended, she told of her life and the time when she was an actress at Elstree Studios, she had the guests hanging on her every word, she had taken to the stage beautifully dressed in high heels and a suit, and after speaking for 15 minutes she told us all to come back the following year for the next instalment.   It would never have occurred to Dominique that she might not be there the following year.

I asked Dominique what she put her longevity down to, she replied that she had never lived in poverty, and was lucky enough to never have had a serious illness, and that every day she woke up feeling positive that this was going to be a special day.  It was this positivity that made her such good company and kept her alive for so many years.

Dominique will be sadly missed by all her family and friends, and she would be thrilled that today we celebrated her life, drank champagne and ate wonderful food surrounded by marvellous company.