My favourite pieces of jewellery are gifts from Marie that she's sent me over the years. With impeccable foresight she knew when I was going through a "gold" or a "silver" phase and once memorably bought me a pair of dangly salmon coloured earrings that I thought I'd never wear, only to find that I wore them four times in one year to weddings and posh night's out as they went perfectly with a new outfit I bought for that year's season! She said I bought the outfit to go with the earrings. I said I wouldn't be that organised.

She recently told me a story about how the kids at school would seek her out in the playground each day during Advent to look at the earrings she was wearing as she always wore a different pair of Christmas earrings each day. I have no doubt that when they grow up they will recall with nostalgia their fun TA who changed her jewellery daily during the festive season. Its the sort of thing we just remember, don't we.