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Our hearts were really breaking
As you fought so hard to stay.
We knew you had to leave us,
But you never left alone;
For part of us went with you
When God came and called you home.'
His best friend, Aaron Leonard, wrote in his tribute: 'To my best ever friend Chris. You will
always be remembered by all your friends, and especially by me. You always made me laugh,
and made everybody happy. I hope my attitude towards everyone is as good as yours, and I
hope my spirit is as powerful as yours. You were the best mate I've ever had and you always
will be.'
Elissa Richardson, another close friend, wrote: 'For 13 full years we have grown together, but
now you're not here. You fought so hard to stay. You were suffering so much, and yet you
didn't want to cause us any pain. I have treasured memories of you in my heart forever. You are
my inspiration to live life to the fullest. I love you, mate.'
The funeral service was held at 11.0 am on Wednesday, 2 December in the Uniting Church in
Healesville, where the Honeycombes were very well known and liked. Alan was a lay-preacher
and elder there and sometimes played the organ for the hymns. Over 500 people filled the
church and the adjacent hall, where the service was broadcast on close-circuit TV. Healesville
High School closed for the morning so that students and teachers could attend. The address
was given by the minister, the Rev Tim Angus. Many wept.
He said: 'We have gathered here because of the death of Christopher Alan Honeycombe. Chris
is dead. What we hoped and longed for not to happen, has happened, and that is a bitter truth...
Cancer is so limited - it cannot cripple love; it cannot shatter hope; it cannot corrode faith; it
cannot eat away peace; it cannot destroy confidence; it cannot kill friendship; it cannot shut out
memories; it cannot silence courage; it cannot invade the soul; it cannot quench the spirit; it
cannot lessen the power of the resurrection. Our greatest enemy is not disease, but despair.
And Alan and Beth, Ross and
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Sharyn and Danielle, we see these truths in your grief and the faith and love that is within you...
and in Chris, in how he lived, and how he died...
'Chris could be cool and arrogant because he knew that he was good at the things he did... And
yet Chris was just a big kid, rolling and tumbling in mock fights with his little sister, Danielle.
Chris had that competitive spirit. Whatever he was in, it was full on. There was a sense in which
he had no time for this illness. We was in control of what would happen, and when. And with
his family's encouragement, he lived right up to his limits. Although Chris was born in Mortlake,
he was really a Healesville person. All the little kids at the swimming club would say to Beth:
"We wish Chris was here, because then Healesville would win." In Year 7 he swam free-style
faster than the Open grade. And to watch him swim was a sheer delight, such was his grace and
speed.
'He spent a lot of his time keeping up with Ross and Sharyn: anything they could do, he could
do also. With Ross he had someone to compete with and, if possible, to get the better of -
someone who shared his love of music, who could extend his ability in maths and all things
digital, and someone just to kick a footy around with. Chris could seem quite reserved. He
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