Some memories of Kathryn…

The first team meeting Kathryn attended:

I don’t remember my first encounter with everyone I have met. But Kathyrn is not everyone. She listened so carefully to the team’s discussion. When she made a comment she brought a new perspective. And I knew I was going to learn so much from, and love working with, this new colleague.

In a fish and chip restaurant in Plymouth:

We shouldn’t have ordered more wine. We had to work the next day. But the conversation was flowing. I was asking her about teaching young people with learning difficulties and disabilities. I felt able to ask anything, no matter how naïve, because she treated every question seriously. I learned so much that evening. But I also relished her sharp wit and dark humour that ran through the conversation as it ebbed and flowed from work to anecdotes and inevitably into politics. The next day? She was as sharp and insightful as ever.

During a difficult conversation with someone at work:

We both knew that we had heard an inappropriate comment. I prevaricated and mumbled. Kathryn immediately called it out. She didn’t need to think, she knew right from wrong. I’ve used this litmus test for professional discussions many times since: ‘what would Kathryn do now?’

In a pub in Bristol for a leaving do:

A year into her treatment and still thinking of others and determined to join in. The room lit up with smiles as she walked in: a table full of people wanting to share some precious time with her after so long apart. She gave me a box of beautiful wine glasses and I drink a silent toast to her every time I use them.