Memories

 

In December 2003, Emma went to Wales to share New Year with friends all the while unable to eat or drink. She struggled to the shore, and full of pain, made her way back to the cottage never to see the sea again.

Back in London she died a month later in a small room overlooking the Thames just before dawn. She had lived long enough to see her namesake baby niece born two weeks before. The notice in the Guardian and Leicester Mercury had mentioned her blog and soon she was a posthumous celebrity on the cover of G2 magazine. She would have roared with laughter at the very thought but probably been very pleased at the same time.

Family and friends gathered on February 14th in Loughborough to say goodbye. Later in the year in April they gathered again to share memories and celebrate her life at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of South London where she had received so much support.

She had once said in the long dark days of waiting for the chemo to kick in: “It will be harder for you.” And, as usual, she was right.