2023, well that was a year that I’d like to forget. It started off well but in August my best friend was rather unexpectedly diagnosed with cancer. She died 5 weeks after diagnosis! You always hear stories about how hard it is watching someone you love fight and ultimately lose their battle but to actually live that battle with someone you love is horrendous. I was asked to deliver her eulogy at her cremation, just a simple affair with 10 on us there and then a month later write and officiate her memorial with over 100 people and zoomed worldwide. It was incredibly difficult but thankfully I was able to draw on my Foreign Office training and ICPC training and got through it.
