Liz, You have touched our lives in a way that I think no-one else ever has - and we feel genuinely honoured to have known you, if only for a short time. You will certainly never be forgotten by Terry or myself. Of course, we will always remember you as being a beautiful girl... but you were every bit as lovely on the inside. :) Noone could fail to be inspired by the way in which you bore your illness with such grace, courage and incredible good humour. Your dazzling smile and sunny, optimistic and bubbly personality made you fantastic company, and it was always such a pleasure to spend time with you and Duncan while we were in New Zealand together. I can honestly say that you are the most amazing girl we have ever been lucky enough to meet... with everything you were going through you always looked on the positive side and asked how things were with us. Your warm welcome and kind generosity in letting us stay with you when we first arrived in NZ helped massively to ease my transition into NZ life. Jet-lagged and half a world away from my own friends and family, you both made me feel so at ease - for which I am forever grateful! I particularly remember sitting on the beach at Te Arai with you and Phoenix in July 05, and laughing together as Duncan and Terry both surfed a single wave at the same time. There are a couple of lovely short videos from that day too, one of which is of a newly-weaned Phoenix attacking your apple with impressive ferocity, with the sound of you giggling throughout the whole thing! Liz, you were blessed with one of those smiles and laughs that would really cheer someone up even when they were feeling down. Of course, there was so much more to you than the fact you were ill - but your ability to rise above it with your beautiful spirit whole and uncrushed and to maintain a positive outlook on life is just amazing. It is easy to get overwhelmed by even life's trivial challenges... Terry and I have taken inspiration from you in the way we deal with things and in maintaining a sense of perspective on life's problems. In this way, you will always live on in our family... by helping and inspiring us to be happier and more positive, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. (And, of course, in that recipe for the wonderful soup with stilton, mushrooms & garlic!). We have a photo of you which Terry took at your house in Rukutai St in February 06, while we were both tickling Phoenix... it's the picture I always see in my mind when think of you - bright, happy, smiling and vivacious. Thank you so much for your friendship, and the times we shared: we will treasure both forever. Save us a place on that glorious, sunny beach which I'm sure you are enjoying now... and we'll buy you a round of drinks when we get there! With all our love, Karen, Terry & Phoenix x x x