Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I’m recently retired and always on the look out for ways to prove I’m not ‘past it’!!

I can’t wait to get started on the trek up Kilimanjaro - it will be a long held dream come true for me.

Last year I learnt to live life to the full and to set about making dreams a reality. Here’s why…….

A short time after I retired my son got married. Many happy, happy times were spent with our son and ‘in-laws’ and we were all overjoyed when news of pregnancy broke and we eagerly anticipated the birth of our new grandson.

Very soon our excitement was tempered by the realisation that Les’, my son’s Father-in-Law and by now my good friend was seriously ill.

It was the best of times and the worst of times - Leo was born in July when Les’ was able to enjoy time with his grandson, take him for walks and each delighted in the other’s company. Everyone was grateful for the ‘little miracle’ that cheered the family and kept them going through a roller coaster of diagnosis, despair, false hope, pain, suffering, and then more despair. Christmas was spent at the hospice and on Boxing Day, after just 6 months, Les’ died.

In a relatively short time Les’ had become a special friend and I had looked forward to sharing the responsibility of ‘grandfathership’ with him and spending more family time together. His sudden illness and subsequent death came as a shock, awakening me to the fact that anything could be around the corner and it was time to step living up a gear.

I’m doing the Marie Curie Kilimanjaro Trek because

It's a great way to remember Les’ who was loved, admired and respected by many throughout his life and more recently by me.

It will help me raise money for Marie Curie Hospice Newcastle who took great care of Les’ at the end of his life - a truly wonderful place.

It's something I have always dreamed of doing - it's now or never!

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