Elli was stunningly beautiful but never really believed it. She was funny and loving and incredibly generous. She danced from the age of four: ballet, tap, modern and musical theatre. I always said dance was her one and only true love, and gave her far more than it took.

We had a close relationship, and when her sister Libby came along I felt blessed with them both. 

Life events, however, caused her to rebel and she met a boy who quickly controlled her whole life and set her on a path that, as a Mother, was almost too much for me to bear. She finally got away from him - only to find herself with another monster, the one who took her away and robbed her of a future, of the children she desperately wanted; and robbed us, her family, of our future with her, seeing her great beaming smile and hearing her belly laugh.

I miss her grumpiness and her crazy conspiracy theories, her judgement of my clothes and make up. I want to argue with her, laugh with her, eat and drink, visit places … I just miss her and what she could have been.