Here is to raising money in honour of a wonderful person. A wife, Mum to three fortunate children (Charlotte, Lucy and Edward) and Granny to three grandchildren whom would have loved her (Ned age 5, Bea age 2, Tess age 1 and grandchild four who is just being cooked).

Jane passed away age 57 after suffering from picks disease. Picks (frontotemporal dementia)   is a less common form of dementia and hence difficult to diagnose. The disease first develops in the frontal lobes of the sufferers brain,  the part which controls emotion and behaviour. Many people close to Mum suffered the tragic impact of watching her character change so quickly and dramatically from what it was; a lady whom by nature was always so patient, calm, kind and maternal. 

Among those were her grandchildren. Ned, as the oldest, was the only one who was able to briefly experience the characteristics she had which made her so perfect for the role of a Granny, before she became ill. Mum always loved children. As a first time Granny at 52, she had youth, energy, vast amounts of patience and was so thrilled by this new chapter. She was a gifted lady and non more so then where children were involved, the arrival of grandchildren was set to be among her finest days.

Sadly by the time that Ned turned 2 (the exact age which Mum enthused to me was one of the most brilliant)Mum had a diagnosis that bought with it no hope of recovery and she passed away 3 years later, in October 2013.

By way of honouring a truly beautiful Mum and Granny, we will raise money into researching this relatively unheard of and hideous disease. Part of the work of the national brain appeal, at the Queens Square Brain bank in London, is in researching the causes of picks disease. The reasons that the nerve cells in the affected area of the brain die, and the pathways that connect them change irreversably. The ultimate goal in this type of research is to find a cure which will then prevent other families watching the shattering effects of the disease;  first the personality and  behaviour changes which then progresses to a loss of language and ultimately all function.

So the first of the fundraising efforts...the grizzly next weekend on the 9th March!  Ned is running the junior grizzly race(a couple of miles) and Martin the full gruelling 20 miles of beach/ cliff/ mud running around East Devon. The race is particularly pertinent as it starts and finishes outside Beaumont Guest House, the Hill family home for over 20 years and was always a guaranteed 'no vacancies' weekend in a guest house full of muddy runners! (the photo of Mum and Ned looking out of a window is them looking right onto the beach starting line of the grizzly)

Me and Bea will be sat, maybe on Mum's new memorial bench on the seafront outside Beaumont, eating cake.

In memory of the very best that a Mum could have ever been x x x