Hi everyone,
First of all I hope you are all doing alright tonight and finding strength with loved ones, friends, or even just messaging people on here that are going through similar situations. Trust me, it does help and brings a lot of comfort even getting a hello and a virtual hug!
I have lost many people over the years - My dad, my sister, uncles, granddads, and my beautiful cat. I have always found strength in being around good friends and family, but especially being part of this community.
Had some extremely sad news 3 weeks ago today. Bit of a back story - I worked in an amazing primary school for 13 years. It was one form entry so had an incredible community feel and the staff were a tight unit with a 100% family feel! I left that role on July 17th this year. Everyone begged me to stay and it was an incredibly emotional last day that I will never ever forget!
One of the people to shake my hand on that day and tell me that it was such a shame I was moving on was our beloved caretaker Lee! I had worked with Lee for over a decade and we had become good friends. The early morning banter about work, life, and football over a coffee or two, helping him with jobs around the school, and checking in on each other made the day that little bit easier.
After I left I heard the sad news that Lee had been diagnosed with Cancer of the liver. This was at the end of July. I wasn’t aware of the stage or anything but was told he would be starting Chemo a couple of weeks later. The next I heard of anything was that he went to the school to see people and pick up a card and collection that people had done for him, and he was so grateful and felt so valued and loved.
As far as I was aware he was getting treatment and was recuperating at home with his family.
Then, on October 4th, barely 10 weeks after Lee heard he had cancer, he passed away.
He was such a genuine human being, that would always go out of his way to help others and make their day a bit better. I cannot comprehend his passing in such a quick time period and have struggled to digest what has happened. It is one of the biggest shocks of my life and I miss him a lot! I think about him every day and there have been many many tears.
RIP Lee 