Charmian was someone I thought would never leave. She was one of those ones. You know the ones: solid, full of love, a rock, full of wisdom and support - the type that the world doesn’t seem to be churning out these days; maybe that’s why the gap, the loss seems so especially big. Charmian was so cool, so quirky; there wasn’t an ounce of fakeness in her. I really appreciated how she was so perceptive of people’s needs. She opened her home willingly to my family at Christmas time only a few years ago, showing again how she wasn’t just talk, she was a true friend to my mum, she truly cared, she noticed things, she listened, she acted. She always always made my dad feel welcome and welcomed him and the rest of the Waddell tag-alongs. It’s hard to do Charmian justice with these words, I find it hard to really describe her essence because she was such an integral part of our fabric. She was part of the extended family, she was part of a shared history and present and intended future. I really wish Charmian hadn’t gone, it is such a deep deep loss. There is no comfort in this, there is no happiness or lesson worth losing her for. But she has left a family full of talents and individuality and purpose. She has also left a lot of good, a lot of strength, a lot of example to follow in those of us around her.