Kate... My Mate
I shut down my work computer, picked up my phone to check for messages and a Facebook post appeared in my news feed. One that I never ever thought I would read...
I walked out of work and drove home in silence, trying to process the information.
Me and Kate go WAY back. She's one of the 2010 OG's... or OB's as I like to call us - the "Original (Mummy) Bloggers". We started our blogging journey at a similar time, wrote about the same family trials and tribulations, met at conferences and blogging events and she's one of the first people I message when there's something bugging me blogging-related so I can have a bitch or a moan or just see if she's got the lowdown on something. In fact, I messaged her TODAY to see why she'd not responded to a YouTube link I'd sent her at the weekend related to our shared hatred of vlogger schmaltz. We were also always musing about how we could encourage brands to properly tap into the +40 female influencer market.
But I can't do that any more.
Kate had a way of writing that hit the truth bomb but with added funny. She wrote about her family, her travels, food and her dating journey which she was making moves to turn into a book. She had her personal ups and downs but always managed to put a humorous spin on it to make it into a worthwhile read.
So, if you've ever read one of Kate's posts, watched her Instagram stories, begged for another disastrous dating update or just knew and loved her like I did then please try and donate a couple of quid to the GoFundMe collection to help her sons pay for her funeral and any other costs that will be incurred over the coming weeks, months or however long.
And if you're wondering why I have had to write this blog post so soon, it's so I can give her one final link back to her blog [inappropriate blogger joke moment]. But this is what the OB's used to do... something happened during the day and you'd write about it at night so you could process the information and get feedback from your blogging peers. She'd also hate me for sharing the next few photos but they are my little memories of her and taken in the days before I had a decent camera or whilst giggling uncontrollably.
Rest in peace, Kate.
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| Kate... My Mate |
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| The one where Kate looked like she was in labour (but she wasn't) Taken at the Guinness World Records HQ in London |
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| The one where we realised that Kate's tits were about the same size as Monika's 8 month baby bump. Taken at Cybher in 2012 |
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| The only three bloggers in the whole of the UK who have any right to discuss hair woes! L-R Kate, Amanda, Chris - taken at Cybher in 2012 |