One year on...

Just a note to apologise for not updating the blog for a long while. It is wonderful to know that so many people do keep checking it and I hope that re-reading Sophie's posts has brought a smile to your face as it does for me on hard days.

We have a video Soph recorded for this blog that we never got to upload, which I'll put up later today if I can make the tech work! For now I just want to thank all of you who have already contacted Mum, Dad, Iain, Kofi, Cali, Jag and I to let us know you are remembering Sophie in an extra special way today - one year on from her sudden passing on 14th December 2009. There are lots of cupcakes being made which is great as I think we all need a little sugar rush in this cold weather.

If you have any special memories of Soph you'd like to share please do post them here - it is always wonderful for us to hear other treasured memories from friends.

Light a candle, say a prayer, eat a cupcake, tell everyone special you love them.

Thank you. Alex. xx

Two teams running 10k and 5k for Sophie - please sponsor us!

Thank you to all of you who have donated so generously in Sophie's memory. We have over £7000 on her Macmillan page, which is an incredible sum that will do such a lot of good for everyone affected, directly or indirectly by cancer.

All of us have been coping pretty well thanks to the incredible support of family and friends but we are now ready for some positive action in Sophie's memory and to continue to support her two favourite charities, Macmillan Cancer Support and Cancer Research UK.

Therefore, Kofi, Cali and I are running, with Sophie's friends Gemma, Scott, Iain, Angela and Carly, the BUPA 10k in London on 31st May for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Mum is also tackling a running challenge with her wonderful friends from Bruton, Caroline, Bridget, Denise, Julie and Deborah. Running as 'the King's Ladies' and they will be fundraising for Cancer Research UK. As well as running the 5k race they are holding a number of fund-raising events (including tea parties, mufti days at school etc) in Bruton and Wanstrow so do get involved!

We are hoping to get the total for Sophie above £10k so if any of you would be kind enough to sponsor us yet again we would be immensely grateful! Both links are below so thank you in advance for your incredible continued support.

http://www.justgiving.com/10k-for-Sophie

http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/rosieparr

Thank you.

Alex.

A LIST OF THANK YOU'S

Thank you to each and every one of the 600plus people who braved the rain, sleet and snow to join us for Sophie's funeral last week.

It was truly a celebration of her adventurous life and a testament to her remarkable strength, humour and love that so many of you came to share the day. For us, it was as positive an experience as such an occasion can be and we were so very proud of Sophie and grateful for all the support from the community, school, friends and family.

Thank you also to all of you who brought cupcakes, brownies and other goodies in Sophie's honour. She would definitely have approved of the sugar overload in the Mem Hall!

Those that we didn't manage to devour were shared out to the elderly residents of Sexey's Hospital, the almshouse in Bruton; and with the doctors and staff of Bruton Surgery.

Finally, thank you to all of you who have so generously donated to Sophie's justgiving site for Macmillan Cancer Support. We are rapidly approaching £5000; a staggering sum, which she would have been ecstatic about! Thank you for this tribute to our darling Soph.

Alex. xx

Sophie's Funeral

Sophie's funeral will take place at 12noon on Tuesday 29th December 2009 at the Church of St Mary the Virgin in Bruton, Somerset. All are warmly invited to wear a dash of something bright and colourful.

Family flowers only please - we would be grateful for any further donations to Sophie's memorial page for Macmillan Cancer Support through the link on this page. If you prefer not to donate online, the funeral directors, W.J. Trotman can also take donations:
W.J Trotman
Ashdene
Frome Road
Doulting
Shepton Mallet
Somerset
BA4 4QQ
Telephone: 01749 880271

After the service a reception will be held in the Memorial Hall at King's School, Bruton where cars may be parked. The school is immediately next to the church. There will be a private burial in our village of Wanstrow before the family joins the reception.

Mum has suggested that we have a special table for cupcakes, 'rocky road' and any other goodies that guests might care to bring to share in Sophie's honour.

Thank you all for your love and support.

Alex, Malcolm, Rosie, Iain and Jag.

Sophie Julia Margaret Parr - by Alex, big sister.

As many of you already know by now Sophie had a tough few days at the end of last week and unfortunately she went into Intensive Care at the Whittington Hospital in Archway on Sunday morning and passed away soon after midnight on 14th December 2009. We are all lost without her but trying to look ahead the way she always managed to.

This blog was a really important way of Sophie managing the news of her diagnosis, coping with the pain and worry and showing off her talent for writing, her incredible, quirky sense of humour, her deep hatred of bananas and her magical sparkle that made her so special to all of us.

A special thank you to Audree for helping her to create it and thank you to all of you who read, commented, emailed or spoke to her about how much you liked it. She was thrilled with all the positive feedback and had great plans for the blog and for her future.

We wanted to at share the happy moments of Sophie's last week, which include the fantastic party she and Cali held in their flat on Wednesday 9th December and which gave her so much fun and laughter. I've uploaded these photos below.

We also have a video Sophie had recorded and planned to upload here so we will put it on soon. In true 'Sophie-style' her planned 30seconds turned into nearly 20minutes but she really enjoyed making it and was looking forward to developing a TV show with her wonderful Kofi one day.

Many of you have already donated to the Just Giving page Sophie established for Macmillan and we will turn this into a memorial page soon. If you would like to make a donation in her memory we would be hugely grateful.

I will post details of her funeral as soon as I can but it will likely be the week after Christmas, (28th Dec onwards) and will be at St Mary's church in Bruton, Somerset.

If any of you would like to contact me in the mean time please do email me: aknotay@googlemail.com

If you would prefer to write, the family will all be at home for the next few weeks:

Pear Tree Cottage
The Street
Wanstrow
Somerset
BA4 4TF

Thank you all for your love and support and for sharing your memories of Sophie with us. It is helping us through this incredlbly difficult time to know how much she was loved by so many people.

Alex.

Sophie's Party - 9th Dec 2009 part 3

Sophie's Party - 9th Dec 2009 part 2