Sadly, in the end our beautiful, brilliant wife and mother lost her battle with cancer on Friday 12th June.

Words have stopped being able to fit and mean enough to explain the grief and sadness of the last few days – nothing could explain  how crushing it is to see a pair of lonely glasses the day after the hospital. Or to think about how she’ll never meet her future grandchildren, or be there for weddings, and won’t be there when we are home and no, this isn’t a business trip – it’s permanent.

We’re trying to hold on to the fact that at some point, we’ll be able to celebrate and remember the millions of wonderful moments with her with that pain slightly more numb. It’s been so inspiring to receive all the messages about how many people’s lives she’s touched and made better. People we’ve mostly heard of, but never met, who’ve reached out to us and shared their stories and reflections. She was wonderful.

We will always love you, Maria/mum.