My Mamma was one of the first people I met in this life. She and my aunty Lisa flew out to one of the coldest states in the US and brought me the most fabulous knitted hat with a bauble bigger than my head just days after I was born. And from then she has been such a constant and amazing presence in my life. When I think back on all the memories I have of her, I can do nothing but smile. I was so incredibly lucky to have such an amazing relationship with her. She wasn’t only my grandmother she was my friend, my confidant, my motivation when life got tough, the dose of reality I needed when I got too stroppy, and someone I admired and loved so fiercely. The last conversation I had with her most accurately sums up our relationship. I was getting ready for work and in the middle of doing my hair my Mum handed the phone to Mamma so I could say “Hello”. Without even greeting me she asked, if I was doing my hair. There was no way she could have know that and when I asked her how she knew, she simply said, “Well you and I always know these things about each other don’t we?” And we did. I will always remember the walks from Tulk House, the stories of fairies who lived in the woods, sock fights, cloud watching, swimming in the ocean, climbing in to bed with you and Pappa in the early morning to have our first cup of tea, Brown Sea Isle, waiting for the train in the middle of a thunderstorm in Spain laughing till our sides hurt, Jolly Girls Outings and you ever so soft and ever so cold hands. I could honestly go on for days with how many fond memories I have with her. And although this time came way too soon for my liking, I will do everything I can to make her proud. In an email she wrote to me as I was about to embark on one of lifes journeys, she gave me a piece of advice that i have kept with me ever since. “Take care my lovely, take deep breathes, stand up straight and smile, and the world smiles with you. Cry and you cry alone.”