Less than a week ago the world lost a truly unique individual.
In life you walk down a road completely on your own, no one else will follow the same path from start to finish.
Along the way we find ourselves walking next to someone, someone familiar or someone new.
Initially it's because of that one thing that you recognise that puts you together, for me and laura it was cluster headaches. For some people you meet this way your journeys are tied together indefinitely as you realise you have so much more that binds you, Laura and I found Dr Who, baking, music, photography and a wicked sense of humour.
I was talking about peer support recently at work; the need to have people in your life that you can talk to about normal things without having to explain the thing that defines you. In my cluster headache journey Laura was my first example of that soon joined by Chloe and Kim as my Cluster crew!
laura and I also had lived experience of depression, anxiety and PTSD in common, this ultimately led to Laura's death last week. My own mental health has taken a tumble this week. I remind myself on a loop in my head "it's ok katie, it will be ok, it has to be ok". Laura reminded me this week that that's not always the case. There is every chance one day this will just all be too much for me to handle.
All I can do I work as hard on my mental health as I do my physical health. Keep talking to my wonderful ever understanding wife, my supportive family and my amazing friends. I need to be honest when my days are bad and never take for granted the people who walk alongside me. But I'm rocked, I'm scared, I'm numb and I'm so angry, not at Laura, at the catastrophic impact of this illness on us all.
I'll miss you laura, your love, support, humour and honesty. I'll watch our new female Dr and think of you. Love you x
