Tribute to Fiona by friend Anna
Created by info 4 years agoI first met Fi when I moved to London in 1990-1 in my early twenties. We both occupied grim but very cheap bedsits in the same shabby house just off the Pentonville Road. As many of Fi´s friends will attest, Fi, could be great fun, with a very mischevious sense of humour. She could be provocative, even rebellious. She was a very loyal and supportive friend and I remember many happy times in the early days of our friendship, joking about our stingy landlord and making guacamole to accompany a bottle of wine at weekends and a game of backgammon, - which she taught me.
I was not aware of the more vulnerable side of Fiona until a few years later, after she finished her PGCE (?) training. She phoned to ask if she could come to visit me in Norwich. It was only when she told me she was buying a “one way ticket” that I realised the seriousness of her situation; she had nowhere to go once her student accommodation ran out and no job to go to. My friendship with Fi lasted through mental illness as well as a friendship bustup of the kind that several other friends can identify with. But thanks to a re-union of friends-in-common we re-newed our friendship and Fiona was keen to come and visit my family and get to know my young daughter face to face for the first time. Since coming across probation work as a career in her early 40s, I felt Fiona had finally found her niche. I felt so proud of my old friend. She had overcome – and achieved - so much; relative stability, a home of her own, her beloved family of cats, and a responsible job that she felt passionately about, which really harnessed the talents that she had developed and that had grown out of her own difficult life experiences. Finally she had found a way to make a difference in society and in individuals´ lives, as well as to stabilize her own life. When she contracted Covid, having been undergoing cancer treatment – as an outpatient – it seemed such a cruel twist of fate. I will remember the best of Fi, in her loyal friendship, and strong sense of social justice and personal change.
I was not aware of the more vulnerable side of Fiona until a few years later, after she finished her PGCE (?) training. She phoned to ask if she could come to visit me in Norwich. It was only when she told me she was buying a “one way ticket” that I realised the seriousness of her situation; she had nowhere to go once her student accommodation ran out and no job to go to. My friendship with Fi lasted through mental illness as well as a friendship bustup of the kind that several other friends can identify with. But thanks to a re-union of friends-in-common we re-newed our friendship and Fiona was keen to come and visit my family and get to know my young daughter face to face for the first time. Since coming across probation work as a career in her early 40s, I felt Fiona had finally found her niche. I felt so proud of my old friend. She had overcome – and achieved - so much; relative stability, a home of her own, her beloved family of cats, and a responsible job that she felt passionately about, which really harnessed the talents that she had developed and that had grown out of her own difficult life experiences. Finally she had found a way to make a difference in society and in individuals´ lives, as well as to stabilize her own life. When she contracted Covid, having been undergoing cancer treatment – as an outpatient – it seemed such a cruel twist of fate. I will remember the best of Fi, in her loyal friendship, and strong sense of social justice and personal change.
Pictures
Fi with our grim London bedsit landlord Mr Donahue early 1990s
