I had been married for fifty-four years Christmas 2020. In January 2021 my husband was diagnosed with terminal cancer. He had been struggling with heart disease which meant he could not have treatment. You can imagine how devastating this was. He died in September 2021.

In 2022 I had to make a new life for myself. I was grieving, but realised getting busy was going to be what I needed. So I joined walks, talks, and a group called Ladies Who Lunch. One day, as I was sitting in a cafe, I got an email from St Gemmas. I had purchased a leaf from St Gemma’s to remember my husband and the email said I could hang my leaf on the tree of life in their garden. I was in floods of tears, and the lady adjacent to me asked me if I was OK. We had a chat about things and she wrote on a piece of paper, ‘Heydays’, and said I should go. So here I am and enjoying meeting lots of new people. And yes I met the lady again here.