Monica A wife, mother, daughter, sister, auntie, friend, neighbour and colleague; a lovely person. I have known Monica for about 18 years as a friend and colleague at Balby Central, but it is the last few years that I feel I have got to know the real Monica. It goes without saying that she was a fantastic teaching assistant .Not many people can be effective and comfortable teaching across the whole age range from nursery to year 6, but Monica could. Last year Monica was asked to work with me in Reception, initially she was a little anxious having worked with the older children for many years, but she threw herself into the task. Monica grew particularly fond of a class full of characters! It was a particularly difficult time for me and Monica was an invaluable support for me and our team. We laughed together and cried together in equal portions. When Monica became too ill to work she missed the children enormously, and the children missed her. She took great delight in receiving our filmed recordings of messages from the children, as they wanted to keep her up to date with their news. News such as; losing their first tooth, learning to ride a bike without stabilisers and having a new baby brother. Monica was so touched by them that she wrote an individual message to every child in the class even though she was in hospital at the time Monica has always developed lovely relationships with the children that she supported, and it was often the children with their own problems that she grew particularly fond of. There was one occasion when a very ‘troubled’ boy joined our school at the end of Year 6, and he continued to challenge us whilst with us, but it was Monica and Jen that he clung to and cried on the last day of term, he didn’t want to leave as they had been so kind to him. For many of us here today with sadness in our hearts, Monica was our friend and colleague, but to say she was a friend doesn’t quite cover what she was to us. She was a confidant, a keeper of secrets - some of them she kept! She was a surrogate big sister to some. She was a relationship advisor /counsellor (and woe betide anyone who ever forgets her sound advice!) She was a good shopper, bargain hunter, eBay tracker; I still remember mentioning I could do with a camouflage net(for school obviously) and for 10 pounds she got me one that could have covered the whole of Balby and it smelled like it had seen active service in the jungle. She was an agony aunt always there -a good listener. She wore her heart on her sleeve though; always full of emotion as she felt other peoples hurt and pain. At Balby Central we have had our share of grief and sadness and Monica and Andy would always be there for them - she cared! She was a fashion advisor; she tried particularly hard with her good friend David, though he didn’t take much heed. Monica prided herself on always looking her best. She was a partner in crime, mischievous full of fun. She loved the banter in the staff room, often ending up blushing to the roots of her hair having made a comment that could be misconstrued or open to innuendo! How we would love to make her blush again! These last few months Monica and I have talked and talked, and ears should have been burning, although she didn’t see many of you, Julia and I were given the task of keeping her up to date with every ones news and gossip she missed that enormously. She appreciated very much the vast number of texts and Facebook messages you all sent, keeping her in touch with the people she loved and missed. In recent weeks Monica, Julia and I have chatted late into the night and she has shared many stories of her life back in Romania; as a daughter and sister, how her family fought to get their land back after political turmoil. She loved showing us photos of the family house and beautiful garden. She even got Andy to go in the loft and gather Romanian artefacts for our school project ‘International week ‘ She spoke fondly of her mum's key role in the village as nurse and sometime midwife, and on one occasion delivering a baby in her garden. As a younger sister she often tagged along with Lavinia; she tried to say that she was always the ‘good girl’ and spoke of the time when Lavinia aged 7 and she aged 4 stole eggs, and for some reason Lavinia thought was a good idea to hide them in her knickers .They didn’t get away with it! Monica was extremely close to her family and kept up with the customs in Romania; she was a much loved daughter, sister and auntie, but above all else she was a wonderful wife and mother. Her pride and joy is Hannah, what a truly lovely person she is! Hannah is taking after her mum in many ways, being an organiser! Not many people could get the staff of Balby Central running 5k for Race for life, wearing pink flowers and glasses, but Hannah could. It could have been worse; as initially she thought she could get us all wearing skimpy shorts! It was a fantastic occasion and to date over £1700 has been raised. I feel privileged and humbled to have been one of Monica’s many friends; she will be missed so much.