I’d like to tell you about a very special encounter I had last week. Conor’s little brother and I were out getting our groceries when we bumped into a lovely woman I used to work with (let’s call her Anne). While catching up over a cuppa and cake we met another woman (let’s call her Lucy).  Lucy and Anne used to be neighbours. While they were exchanging news, Conor’s little brother was sitting on my lap smiling away at his new audience. Lucy asked about my little smiler before telling  me to treasure every single moment with him. There was something about this woman that made me go on to tell her about smiler’s big brother. The moment I did her eyes watered and she told me about her own little girl who was stillborn. Her daughter would be now be 27 years old. Our stories (despite being 25 years apart) were identical. There we were, two strangers connected by love, loss and tears.

Lucy told me that the loss of her daughter was a pain like no other. While time has made it easier she said she’ll never forget her little girl. Lucy’s family continue to talk about their little girl. Her surviving children write her name on cards. This was all music to my ears as I contemplate a future with time slipping away from Conor’s little life.

I have often wondered if my grief is visible to others. I look in the mirror and see a changed woman since Conor lived and died. Looking back at this encounter, I wonder if I saw something in this woman that lead me to open up to her. Maybe those of us who have known such love and pain can indeed spot it in others.

I would like to dedicate my latest pink bake to a little girl called Rebecca who is loved and missed by her family. The Battenberg cake has been on my to do list for ages. It’s a winning combination of sponge & marzipan. I had put it off believing it to be a bit tricky but it’s much easier than it looks. It’s way nicer than the shop bought ones I remember from childhood. Maybe next time I’ll master squares instead of squashed triangles.

*Top Tip:

Always use gel food colouring rather than the cheap liquid colours. The gel won’t change the consistency of your cake batter.

I used the following recipe;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/battenberg_cake_60878