Hello Kate.

Dad and I went down to see Kate today to spruce her grave up a bit. I didn't manage to go down on her birthday or at Christmas, so I think the last time I went was November two years ago - which is an awfully long time. Her plot is so lovely, you can see the Kent Orchards and Apple Tree Seed Banks from it, and it's right underneath a cherry blossom tree (which is starting to lose its blossom at this time of year) so it is really is very beautiful.

I don't really talk about my sister much to people - there aren't even very many people who know about Kate. Partly because I find it difficult to talk about, but also because, in some way, I feel like I'd be boasting slightly - especially as the topic of Cancer has become somewhat of a talking point for people of my age who want to seek attention.

Anyway, here it goes, the first time I've ever fully written anything down. Kate died ten years ago in November, she had Leukemia (which, for those of you who don't know, is cancer of the blood, where the body's white blood cells start to kill off the red ones). She finished University and then came and lived with us when she became ill. I was only six or seven at the time so I don't really remember much of her actually living with us, but I remember visits to the hospital and all the nasty things which go with illness. So yeah, that's not the full story, but it's a start I suppose. Sometimes things build up and, for me, the only effective way of making myself feel better is to indirectly talk about it. I've never been any good with openly talking about things, so I'm sorry if you're reading this and thinking "she seems like a really emotionally stunted person", but you really have made me feel an awful lot better; thank you.