I met Michelle on my first day at my first job after moving up from Auckland to Whangarei (nearly three years ago now) and I soon learned that she was funny and happy-go-lucky and generous. She was the kind of person that would bake banana cake to boost morale and sooth Mondayitis or bring in daffodils from her garden and share them round just to cheer up the office, and was the instigator of our infamous cocktail/Singstar/pizza team-bonding nights.

Michelle was always the first to listen to your woes or to laugh with you – in short, she was one cool chic, and we quickly bridged that gap from colleague to friend.

So when she decided to move on to greener pastures and a higher salary, it was without question that her and I kept in touch, and when she asked me if I would participate in the biannual Relay for Life, raising money for the Cancer Society and joining the team of friends and workmates she had bought together (not only to support the Cancer Society, but to remember and honour her mum, who had died of lung cancer six years ago) I said yep, absolutely.

Saturday afternoon at 2 o’clock right through to 2pm on Sunday, I tag-teamed with the seven other “Walkie Talkies” (and along with 55 other teams – a total of over 1000 walkers and even a few runners) in a big sports field just south of Whangarei, and between us our team walked over 2000kms round a 400m circuit. It was hot, it was cold (especially at 2am, when a chilly mist descended over the sportsground and I didn’t have quite enough warm clothing…), it was painful (the last three hours I did in barefeet), it was sad, it was boring, it was funny, it was challenging and most of all it was 24 hours of remembering and fighting and celebration and support.