As many of you may know, my mum passed away last year. 

She was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in January 2022. Barely nine months later she was gone. While it all happened so quickly, it felt at the time like one long, slow moving car crash. Having spread to her brain, the cancer robbed us of our mum well before she passed away (except for increasingly rare glimpses – the sarcastic flicker of raised eyebrows here, or the loving look and squeeze of a hand there).

It seemed particularly cruel, given that mum was as smart as they come, with a quick (and sharp!) wit and a passion for reading that meant she always had her head in a book.

Mum was such a strong figure in my upbringing – passing on her creativity, her bookishness and her love of learning – that I’d always assumed (and hoped) that she’d play the same role for my kids, too. But it wasn’t to be. She died 3 days before Ivo’s first birthday – and the thought that he’ll grow up having never enjoyed her company will always hurt. 

It’s why, one year on, almost to the day (and on Ivo’s second birthday – sorry Ivo!), I’ll be running the Royal Parks Half Marathon to raise money to support ongoing research into cancer. And above all, to remember and pay tribute to my mum. I miss you, mum.

Any donations, big or small, would mean the world to me; in return I’ll try and shift the dad bod around the 13.1 miles as quickly as I can! Thank you 😊