My childhood memories of Nikki were something I always thought I would be able to revisit and remember whenever Nikki and I got together, but now it feels as though I have lost a part of my childhood too. Weekends at Nikki’s house meant Gills bread pudding, Jeff’s blue suede shoes, singing Don McLean’s ‘American Pie’ and I was even there for the sibling argument that left a hole in Gareth’s bedroom door! Nikki was my best buddy through our teenage years. We laughed together, cried together, chased boys, bought denim jackets and grew our fringes out together. Nikki took me trampolining and I took her dog walking.

Our little group of girls were always falling in and out of friendship but Nikki never started it. She loved everyone and we all loved her. Nikki laughed a lot when we were young, often because she was being silly and wanted to make people happy. As we went into our twenties Nikki and I took different paths, Nikki was full of travel and adventure while I settled down and started a family. I wish I had seen half the places Nikki visited on her travels.

After I moved to Shetland with my family we stayed in touch, in the ad-hoc way that loyal old friends do, catching up whenever I was down in Hastings. The last time I was down we met up in the park, our children played together in the sunshine and we all ate ice-cream, we caught up that day, and I choose to remember the happy memories we shared. It was Nikki that got in touch this summer as I was undergoing treatment for breast cancer, it was wonderful to catch up, we even started planning her trip up to visit, she would have loved the wild of Shetland! As we messaged each other Nikki shared little about the challenges she was facing, I wish I could have seen her one more time to tell her how much I appreciated her friendship.

When I heard the news about Nikki I looked back at my messages, the last words we had shared. She sent me a short poem about friendship and I sent her four hearts in blue, green, yellow and pink. It summed things up, time had passed, we chose different paths in life, but our friendship endured. I will miss Nikki and all the wonderful memories we have, I will choose to remember her strong, independent, beautiful, happy and smiling.