Katheryn - my fellow student teacher

I met Katheryn at the start of our teacher training course
at Goldsmiths College, London in 2005. There were only 3 of us specialising in languages (including Shivana),
so we provided each other with all the support we could for that intense
year. I enjoyed the times I spent
chatting with Katheryn during coffee breaks and loved her wrinkley-nosed laugh
which was her trademark. It was a tough ol' year at the best of times but Katheryn
was even more remarkable in that she ploughed through it, new to the country
and unknowingly pregnant at first.
She was posted in a tough school in the area but the
kids respected her 'firm but fair' attitude and many became very attached to
her baby bump, as the terms ticked on! I
was thrilled to be posted at the same school as Katheryn for a short time, where we group-taught French classes together.
Sometimes, we would grab a coffee after school in nearby
Greenwich and chat about everything and anything. Katheryn confessed in a very low-key way that
she would be taking a day off to marry David later that week. I was so pleased to hear the wonderful news
and also admired how well Katheryn and David had adapted to their
rapidly-changing relationship in such a short amount of time.
By the end of our course, Katheryn and David had the
delivery of lovely little Oscar in their arms whilst the rest of us were
receiving graduation certificates. I
remember visiting Katheryn at home and both having a giggle over Oscar's funny
disapproving expressions. We also joked
about Katheryn revealing her true nature as a pervert, when she came back from
the loo with her zipper undone!
I've often thought about Katheryn, since taking on a similar
decision to move overseas - away from family and friends. It's only when you experience the same, can
you truly appreciate what a friend has been through.
Whenever we came back to Blighty and met Katheryn and David
over a few drinks, we were always grateful that they had taken the time to find
us again, as was the case earlier this year. We often reflected what a shame it was to have met such wonderful
people, just before we were about to leave and start up elsewhere – our
memories are now all the more precious to us.
Although we are many miles away here in Australia, all three
of you are in our hearts and thoughts.
Love, Elizabeth and Gerry xx