I had some really bad news this week. A friend – although we had never met, we had exchanged blog comments and emails, and become Facebook friends a few years ago – had died. She was a very funny and gutsy lady, never afraid to speak her mind or to stamp where angels might fear to tread, and she shared my passion for animal welfare. We first “met” when she wrote to me after my first book was published, and she was always very supportive of all my writing.
On Monday, noticing that she hadn’t posted any updates for a few days, I went to look at her home page, and was shocked and really distressed to learn that she had died in her sleep. She would only have been in her early 40s, and although she suffered from a genetic disorder she had seemed to be in good health at the time, and certainly in very good spirits. She loved her husband, her mother, her niece, her little dog, her hens and garden, and food. She was always sharing her triumphs when she’d found something delicious marked down, and photos of the meal she was just about to enjoy. 
And she was creative too. She made me a gorgeous little crocheted hat with a big red flower on it, and somehow that flamboyant flower epitomises her.
She’d been bright and bubbly that day on Facebook; next morning she was dead.
I came across this link today, completely unexpectedly (I’d never even heard of the website): 30 Great Holiday Reads
Is that you up there, JTT, pulling strings? I like to think so. I’m really going to miss you. You were a very much larger-than-life character.
