This book is mostly about my grief, but of course the whole family was missing Sharon in the months and years that followed her death. Each one of us missed her differently and had our own memories. It was important to everyone that they remembered Sharon. We all wanted to remember Sharon in our own way.

A few months after Sharon died, Esther decided she wanted to do the Moon Walk in memory of Sharon. She mentioned it to a few friends and lots of them said they wanted to do it too. All of them knew someone who had been affected by cancer and they were determined to raise money to help to treat it.

Almost before she knew it she was organising a coach for 53 women to go and Walk the Walk!

The Moonwalk is 26 miles long. It’s mainly for women and they do the walk at night, dressed in their bras. The website on walkthewalk explains how it started:

“In the spring of 1998 a Walk the Walk team entered the London Marathon for the second time but as most people know, places for this event are extremely hard to come by. Only 25 people received places but there were a further 25 who failed to get in. Not wanting to disappoint them or waste their fundraising and training, Nina decided to create a one off marathon for these girls. The nearest to being part of the London Marathon would be to start at midnight and finish at seven in the morning on the day of the marathon. The 25 intrepid walkers plus friends set off at midnight and completed their marathon at 7.00 am on Sunday morning in Trafalgar Square……and so the MoonWalk was born. Since that day the MoonWalk has become a major annual event. It is the only Power Walking marathon in the world and certainly the only event that we know of that starts at midnight with thousands of dynamic women and men wearing bras!”

Esther spoke to local Somerset Councillor Steven Pugsley and, hearing that so many local women were keen to do the Moonwalk, he agreed to provide the coach. It was January and the event was in June. The women needed to start training for the event, so Esther organised the training sessions. Every Wednesday evening they gathered in Blenheim Road and set off. First of all they were short walks but as time went on they got longer and longer. Each time someone came to the training sessions they contributed £1.00 to the fund.

Each of the women found people to sponsor them. Some of them found a huge number of sponsors. Esther organised an Easter Bingo event with a big raffle to raise more money. The training went on and, although some women had to drop out for various reasons, others joined in.

Finally it was the Big Day and it was so hot! The women gathered and got on the coach, worrying if they were ready. Would they be able to do it? Had they trained enough, but not too much? Would they manage to go the whole way?

They had to be there early, so there was a lot of hanging around. There were so many people! Not just the women who were doing it but all their supporters and people bringing round drinks. It was still very hot even though it was the evening. But there was such excitement. They all wanted to get on their way. When would it be time to start?

At last they were off, but there were so many people that they couldn’t move very fast. The streets were very crowded. There were times when they had to stand still because the people in front were moving so slowly. There were bottlenecks at underpasses and narrow roads. It all made it more tiring.

The hot sticky weather continued into the night in the centre of London. As they went on, the people gradually started to thin out a bit more. Esther noticed the landmarks of London as they passed by. They must be nearly halfway. By now some people were feeling very tired. However hard they had trained, the hard streets of the city and the heat of the day were beginning to tell. Some of them had been up very early the morning before, feeling nervous, and also with things to prepare, and now the lack of sleep was starting to get to them.

Luckily many of them had supporters who walked part of the way with them and encourage them. They reminded them to keep drinking, but not too much. Esther had brought drink but now she needed to eat something. She was becoming short of salt. She needed some sort of snack to replace what she had lost during the hot night of exertion. Luckily they found a corner shop open and bought something to keep them going.

The sky was beginning to lighten. Dawn was coming. Some of the streetlights started to flicker and go off. But they were still not quite at the end. As they approached the final mile they needed the support of their friends and families even more. By now, every step was a huge effort. They were so tired.

As each of them came to the finish, pictures were taken and shouts of support rang through the air. Those who were finishing could hardly take it in. They were exhausted. But they had done it! They had finished the Moon Walk!

For Esther it wasn’t finished yet. She had to keep track of the other people from the coach. Was everyone there? Was every woman accounted for? Finally they all arrived back in Minehead. The excitement of doing the Walk and the sense of achievement were starting to fade in a mist of total exhaustion. All the aches and pains from their exertions were nagging at them. But the great thing was that they had done it!

Esther was pleased and relieved that so many of the group had made it and all had got home safely. But in the coming weeks she had still got so much to do. Everyone wanted to tell her how it had been for them and their experiences on the walk. Now the sponsor money started to come in. Lots of it! She couldn’t believe how much money had been raised. It kept coming in.

The final total was over £19,000! Esther sent letters to thank them all and to let everyone know how much money had been raised. It had been a very long way to walk and such a lot of work organising it, but she felt that it was worth it. They had raised all that money for the Breast Cancer Care campaign. They had done something to fight that horrible disease. The money would help others as they went through their cancer treatments. It would save lives and give quality of life to others.

Seventh song: Don’t Forget To Remember

Am I the only one who remembers
That this was a special day?
Am I the only one who thinks of you and cries.
Am I the only one who remembers
That she was a special girl.
Well, have you forgotten
Or do you just turn the other way?

Chorus
Don’t forget to remember.
Don’t forget to celebrate those days.
Don’t forget to remember!
Don’t forget to celebrate- don’t lose them.
They were good times.
They were good times.

You feel sad but you don’t show it.
You bottle it up inside.
But, hey, that’s no way to get on with your life.
Find somebody to share it.
Find somebody to tell,
But if there’s no one then write it down and sing it out.

Treasure the good times in your heart.
Treasure the pictures you can see
For ever. For ever.

Am I the only one who remembers
That this was a special day?
Am I the only one who thinks of you and smiles?
Am I the only one who remembers
That she was a special girl?
Well, have you forgotten
Or do you just turn the other way?

Chorus
Don’t forget to remember.
Don’t forget to celebrate those days.
Don’t forget to remember!
Don’t forget to celebrate- don’t lose them.
They were good times.
They were good times.