Like most mums, my mum had a good friend. Her name was Ronnie. Ronnie was, to my sister and me, a really cool alternative to a parent. She was a little bit naughty, had a brilliant sense of fun, but was also kind, caring, a fabulous listener and most importantly, a wonderful friend to my parents and a great surrogate mother to my sister and me.  She helped us both through some pretty traumatic (grossly exaggerated) teenage angst! In short, Ronnie was ace.

Ronnie is now suffering from Alzheimer's. She is very poorly and has not only been lost to her close friends and family but also to those of us who knew her a long time ago and just assumed she would carrying on laughing and enjoying life into her old age. Ronnie's life was a gift to all who knew her. Katie and Nick, her grown up children, have been kind enough to let me use their story in my efforts to do something to banish this horrible illness. Please help me raise some funds, no matter how small, to stop other families suffering.