Charlie Bird and his wife Claire inspired the nation with their strength following his Motor Neurone Disease diagnosis and she's now candidly spoken about their relationship and the thoughtful gift he had made for her.
Claire chatted with Miriam O’Callaghan on RTÉ Radio One on Sunday, reminiscing about their 'wonderful life' and the ways they tried to keep some normality amid his health deteriorating.
Towards the end of their interview, Claire spoke about how thoughtful her husband was and told Miriam of the special piece of jewellery Charlie had made for her ahead of his death.
'Charlie had this made for me three years ago, he was always Mr Organised,' Claire said as she showed Miriam the locket around her neck.
Claire said: 'He was always a real organiser. This locket is for Charlie and his name is on it. I have Charlie around my neck every day, it's for his ashes.'
She explained: 'Charlie got this made three years ago when he got diagnosed. He is, and always was, Mr Organiser. Going to London, he'd have me at the airport three hours before a plane would take off.'
Charlie gave her the locket for Christmas and at first, Claire was understandably taken aback.
'He gave me this the first Christmas [after his diagnosis] and he said, “isn't that lovely?” And I went “not now it's not lovely but maybe in a few years time, Bird, that'll be lovely!",' Claire told Miriam.
She added: 'He thought I'd wear this for three years, but no, I'm wearing it now. It's a great comfort, but not three years ago!’
Miriam and Claire shared a laugh as Miriam asked, 'so he bought it thinking of when he’d be dead you’d wear it,' and Claire saying: ‘Yeah, I'm actually delighted with it, I love it. It's beautiful to look at. That's Charlie, he was always Mr. Organiser.'
It's now two months since Charlie died, and Claire admitted that there have been 'highs and lows' as she comes to terms with her grief.
'Sometimes I have meltdowns and I have no control. You can't control grief, it just hits you in waves,' she told Miriam. 'Some days I'm sad and angry but Charlie wouldn't want me to be like this.'
Claire is now looking forward to the release of Charlie's last documentary Ransom 79, which she worked on with him, and is planning on getting back to work.
'That's my plan [to go back to work],' Claire said. 'I needed time to recharge my batteries a bit, needed to catch up on my sleep, and just try to get used to my home without Charlie in it.
'It's weird in the evenings with Charlie not there... I absolutely like to have something on, I'm not a lady just to sit around and hang out with Tiger [the dog].'
