Mending Laura

Vicky was happily living her life; with her family, a job she loved and found deeply fulfilling, and a busy diary. She had just got back from a holiday of a lifetime, her son was on his way to university, and all was good. In the blink of an eye, her first routine mammogram changed all that, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Suddenly her life became a series of appointments, operations and treatments...and then just as suddenly it was over, and life was supposed to just get back to normal.Except it didn't really, and she took the difficult decision to take some time out from work and focus on her recovery. She spent a lot of time with friends and family, time with her dog, time reading and drawing, and caring for herself. As an Early Years teacher and a Fine Art graduate it is maybe no surprise that she began to work through her feelings by creating an illustrated book. Although it reads as a children's story about friendship, it is really an allegory of how shocked and shattered she felt after surgery, and how the enveloping support and love of the people around her got her through, and on the journey to life after cancer. She sees Mending Laura as an extended 'thank you' to her family and friends, who wrapped her in their arms both physically and metaphorically, and held her, so that she could stay strong enough to begin to repair.