At the end of February 2016, I found out I was pregnant. This was not planned and came as a massive shock! The following day, the doctors told us dementia was bringing Dad's life to an end and he would not survive the next two weeks. Talk about timing! It did however, mean that Dad and I could share a very special secret. I only told my Dad, and that was the last time he responded to me. He looked at me and smiled. I know that Dad knew he would be a Grandad. 

Dad died peacfully 7 days later, surrounded by love. 

Fast forward 8 months and along came Hattie. Our perfectly timed little girl. She has grown up without getting the chance to meet my Dad, but she certainly knows all about him. She is always hearing stories of the ridiculous things he used to get up to and how she would have been the absolute apple of his eye. He would have spoilt her with time, energy, love and ice-cream! 

Dad would have been 80 this year, so in honour of this milestone birthday, Hattie and I have decided to walk 80 miles to raise much needed funds for Alzheimer's Research. We have until October 31st to complete this. I did ask Hattie if she felt this is something she could do. Her response, "of course I can, for Grandad". 

I'm taking on ARUK Virtual Explorer because now, more than ever, dementia research needs our support and I'm passionate to help fund groundbreaking research and #MakeBreakthroughsPossible