Picture of Nova in London

This girl has been a trooper. She has put up with every change, every long car journey, and every unimaginative meal with a happy and curious attitude and has managed to make everything easier by just being herself. I am so grateful to her, and for her.

Leo is getting stronger. There have been many many ups and downs in the last 48 hours alone but we’re all doing okay. I’m aware that “I appreciate the NHS more than you“ has become fighting talk recently, but I do, and am happy to fight you. Everybody from the car park attendants to the consultants have been thoroughly On Our Side and it makes it a lot easier to just give in to trusting the system.

More locally - I’m am indescribably grateful to the people I got out of bed with urgent phone calls, and the people who dropped everything to just so I could hold my son, the people who rearranged plans instantly so I could see Kat. Thank you. Thank you all so much. Thank you to the people who sent gifts, or thoughts or good energy.

I’m grateful to the people who don’t mind that I’ve not responded to their messages and to the people who coped with me when I did.

I’m grateful for extra flapjack from friendly takeout places, for a clean house and for cookery experiments. I’m grateful for running and walking in deserted parks.

I’m incoherently grateful to Kathryn, who has long been the strongest woman I know but is handling the blizzard of alerts and acronyms and stresses like an true unstoppable force.