Can one message change your day?

For a while now I've been wondering what I was going to write about this month. I've started this blog so many times, deleted everything, made another cup of tea, and started all over again.

Normally I can find something fun to chat about or a topic that's on everyone's mind, but this month felt different. Sometimes the things that matter most are the hardest things to write about.

As many of you know, before Bake Off I was a palliative care nurse. I absolutely loved my job. Sadly, I was made redundant in 2025 and, although I stayed on the bank staff for a while, life eventually presented me with a huge decision.

Do I leave all of you behind and go back to my ‘normal’ life, or do I take a leap of faith and see where baking, writing and creating might lead?

So, we had a proper family meeting, put all our heads together and decided that I would work full-time as a content creator and author. Since then, life has been wonderfully busy. Between baking, filming, travelling, writing and all the exciting opportunities that have come my way, I've barely had time to stop and think.

One message changed the course of my day

Today reminded me just how much that part of nursing still lives in my heart. This morning I woke up to a text that simply read: "Dad passed away this morning."

Immediately, something inside me switched back into nurse mode. Palliative nursing doesn't end when someone dies. If anything, that's when another part of your role begins. Over those final days and weeks, you don't just care for the person who is dying, you become part of the family's story. You support them, laugh with them, cry with them, and you build a bond that doesn't disappear when their loved one does.

This particular family had stayed in my thoughts. We'd kept in touch, although life had become incredibly busy, and I'd been meaning to pop in for a visit. In fact, over the last few days they'd been on my mind more than once. I kept thinking, I'll call in when I've finished everything I've got to do.

But I never did. Until that text arrived this morning. Without even thinking, I replied, "I'm on my way."

When does grief begin?

Today reminded me why palliative care matters so much. When someone dies, the house is suddenly full. There are flowers and cards arriving, meals being dropped off, visitors coming and going. You're so busy doing all the practical things that your heart barely has time to catch up.

Then comes the funeral. And afterwards, everyone gently returns to their own lives. That's often when the silence creeps in. The empty chair suddenly feels impossible to ignore. The phone doesn't ring quite so often. Grief has a funny way of arriving quietly.

That's why, if someone you know has recently lost a loved one, don't just think about them on the day they die or the day of the funeral. Ring them a few weeks later. Take them out for a coffee. Sit with them. Listen. You might never realise just how much that simple act of kindness means.

Do we ever stop caring?

Do I miss being a palliative care nurse? Yes, I do miss it. It was a privilege to help someone fulfil their wish to spend their final days at home, surrounded by the people they loved most. It was a promise I’d be there to hold their hand, offer a smile and bring comfort during life’s hardest moments.

And although that chapter of my life has changed, I realise now that caring for people hasn't disappeared. I still like to bring joy by sharing recipes, a motivational message here and there and hopefully making someone’s day just a little brighter.

That's something I'll never stop trying to do.

Where will the next chapter take me?

Thank you for following this journey with me. Thank you for cheering me on, trying my recipes, reading these blogs and allowing me to keep doing what I love in a completely different way. None of this would have been possible without you, and I never take that for granted.

Life has a funny way of leading us down paths we never expected to take. I still look back on my nursing years with enormous pride and nostalgia, but I'm also incredibly excited about what's still to come. And I can't wait to share it all with you.