Memories shared of 'two peas in a pod'

Belinda Welch

Pregnant with her first child, tsunami victim Belinda Welch had a "real definite glow" of health and happiness about her.

But it was not to last. Just months before heading overseas last year, 26-year-old Belinda lost the baby that she and husband Andrew had affectionately named "P3".

At an emotional memorial service yesterday in Christchurch - Belinda's home town - around 350 mourners heard how the couple felt they were two peas in a pod "and their baby would be the third pea, hence the P3".

It was one of many stories told about Belinda in the service attended mostly by those who knew her before she left Christchurch for Auckland, where she became a devout Christian and met her husband-to-be.

Known as "B" to her friends and big brother Danny, she was a woman who "loved a good party", said schoolfriend Fran Eathorne.

Danny Beckett told of his pride of seeing his little sister grow up and how her love affair with the beach began at a young age, when the family would holiday at Okains Bay on Banks Peninsula.

He spoke of a difficult childhood - losing their father in a road smash as toddlers and their mother in the past few years to cancer - but a childhood also filled with laughter.

Since moving to Auckland and becoming involved in the Baptist Church, Belinda had been working with children, an area her family believed she was "made for".

Yesterday one of those children sent her own message to Belinda in a letter, read out by one of Belinda's colleagues.

"I miss you," the little girl wrote. "Are there hippos in Heaven? If you see one, will you ride it for me? Thank you for being my friend."