18/04/2026
💕💕💕 18 Today 💕💕💕
It’s a very long time since you’ve heard from us,
but as our not so Tiny Dancer is 18 today , we felt we had to share.
Like all moms when their babies are growing up, I’ve been really emotional this week, reflecting on everything over the last 18 years.
And my word, what an experience this last 18 years has been!
Being a mom doesn’t come with a handbook, we all just muddle along as best we can, hoping we’re getting it right and that we’re guiding our children to be the best version of themselves possible and that they will lead a meaningful life, surrounded by love.
Being Lily-Mae and Evan’s mom has been the absolute greatest gift and I am so very, very blessed that she survived Stage IV High Risk Neuroblastoma.
I’ve always been so grateful for her life and have never taken a moment for granted, I’m a very emotional person, I blame the artist part of me…. and I often feel tears welling up just watching my pair do just ordinary stuff. As a mom, when you’ve faced what was essentially a death sentence for your child, there is never such a thing as ‘ordinary’ ever again.
But what extraordinary gifts my girl gave me.
Love, oh so much love there simple aren’t words.
Patience, kindness, empathy, compassion , bravery, resilience and much more are all learnt from being a cancer mom to my Lily-AMAZING.
As all single moms know, being a working, single mom is like being a C.E.O of a large firm all the time, but it brings with it double the rewards and double the love.
And my girl, she’s just simply awesome 💕
A talented artist, wonderful at anime, a creative writer with a super imagination, she has the cutest , alternative fashion style , she’s passionate about music and movies and has excellent taste in both, she’s beautifully crazy and has a wicked sense of fun, she loves modern musicals , going to theatre and live gigs.
She still performs with stage school, she has lots of really good friends and she and Evan get on brilliantly.
And she remains strong and resilient as ever.
This morning, before opening presents, I showed her the letter I wrote for her on the eve of her 5th birthday, a letter full of pain but also of hope.
She didn’t say much about it but she knows how lucky we are.
Just before Christmas we finished up in Crumlin after 13 years and her oncologist went through all her treatments with her and explained all the longterm risks, daunting to say the least, but we’re not worriers , so we won’t let those things in.
Every moment of being Lily-Mae’s mom has been incredible, even the hard years , we always made the best of every situation together.
Just life, please slow down, it’s all just flying by far to fast.
With love,
Tiny Dancer’s Mom
(A title I remain very proud of)
