Megan was born 12 days late and she seems to have been trying to make up for lost time ever since. The one thing that stands out in my memory about her babyhood is how frustrated she was, how much of a hurry she was in. She did everything early and no matter what she’d just got the hang of it wasn’t enough. She never took the time to savour her latest achievement, she immediately started to strive towards her next goal. Megan has never been a child to stop and smell the roses, rather she has been like a bee flitting from one bloom to the next, always busy.

This child of mine has always been possessed of a seemingly inexhaustible amount of energy. She fizzes and sparkles and is literally the light of my life. She glows. I know that she is going to grow up to be a beautiful woman not because I think her face will end up conforming to conventional ideas of beauty but because she has an inner light that is irresistible. People, like flowers, tend to turn towards the sun and Megan is sunshine in a pint-sized pot.

Having been a shy, withdrawn and self-conscious child (and adult) I marvel that I could have had a child such as this. She has filled me with delight from the moment she was born. She is happy and affectionate and I have many, slightly blurred, photos filled with her smiles and laughter. This photo though has captured a rare moment of stillness and has rapidly become just about my favourite picture of her.

In December 2003 we took the children to EuroDisney. Megan has been hankering to go for several years but we had put it off until her little brother was old enough to appreciate it. Megan was keen to get autographs from the Disney characters and was armed with an autograph book and pen. We were sceptical as to whether she would have the patience to wait in a queue for an autograph and expected the shine to wear off that idea very quickly. It didn’t though and this photo was taken as Megan patiently waited for Pluto’s autograph. I love the stillness in this picture, the calm expression on Megan’s face. We do see this at home but it is a rare thing, a brief moment that flashes by.

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