I am very proud to say Mark was my friend, and I am just one of many who loved him and were lucky enough to have known him. I met Mark 13 years ago, but to be honest I feel like I've known him for lifetimes. he was the closest I'll ever get to having an older brother, and I guess like many brotherly relationships we drove each other crazy at times. We used to joke that we had probably killed each other in a past life and it was our mission not to do the same again this time round! I loved Mark dearly, and I know that love was returned...I know that because Mark told me so, many times, the last time only a few weeks ago, and Mark was one of the most honest and direct men I have ever met. He was never scared to tell me what he really thought, even if I didn't always welcome what he said, and that is the mark of a true friend. Mark would have thought it very apt that I should be on holiday when he chose to leave this life, because he always said that I had more holidays than anyone he knew! I'm happy to say quite a few of those we spent together: We had adventures in France and Portugal, where Mark helped me overcome a long held fear of flying...in his own inimitable way! We also had many trips to his spiritual home in Scotland. This morning as I drove across the Highlands to the airport I wished with all my heart that Mark was beside me to see the sun-rays pierce the clouds and play across the mountains and lochs he loved so much. Mark journeyed through the light and the dark, and we all know that he suffered greatly for some periods of his life; but the Mark I will remember is the Mark so full of light and life and adventure that at times he was quite frankly awe inspiring. The Mark who could out dance, out sing, out laugh anybody. The Mark who could strike up a conversation with anyone, anywhere, in a queue for a concert or a supermarket checkout. The mark who could drive non-stop from Sussex to Scotland and then crack open a bottle of Whisky. The Mark who on Hogmanay 1999 danced and sang louder than anyone else in the streets of Edinburgh, and then had the worst hangover in Scotland. I have so many great memories of the Mark on "top form", and I wish he were still here to make some more. I also wish that Mark could have given himself the love and kindness that he so readily gave to others. I am so very proud to say Mark was my friend, and I will miss him more than I can say. I salute you my friend, until we meet again! (read at Mark's funeral April 2008)