TRUE LIFE
To Princess Catherine,
Spotting a pic of you on World Mental Health Day on 10 October 2023, my jaw dropped open. I already knew something was going on.
My phone hadn’t stopped chiming with orders to my online earring shop. Then a friend texted me… She’s wearing them! And sure enough, as I scrolled Instagram, I’d been tagged in photos of you, donning a special pair of sparkly gold star earrings, named for my cousin Issy. My eyes brimmed.
It means everything that you’d honour Issy that way. I was 22 when Issy was born to my aunt Sarah and uncle Simon in 2006.
A happy little girl who loved swimming, singing and dancing.
Every Christmas she entertained us, belting out cheesy pop tunes on the karaoke machine.
I watched her grow into an intelligent young lady and, like you, she loved sports.
Rugby was her passion, and she won medals playing touch rugby for England.
But like many teenagers, life pressures got to her.
When the pandemic hit in March 2020, Issy was 14.
Stuck at home, she chatted online to her mates but social media exacerbated her mental health struggles and at age 16, she was diagnosed with anorexia.
‘Maybe Issy could visit me in Scotland?’ I suggested to Aunt Sarah when restrictions eased.
Up in the fresh rural air, Issy’s eyes sparkled again.
During her three-month stay, she helped make earrings for my business, Ear Sass, chatting away. ‘I’d love to run a business like you when I’m older,’ she beamed.
But after the summer, she spiralled again, and in April 2023, I got a call. Issy, 17, had taken her own life.
Distraught, it was hard to comprehend my little cousin was gone. As my family pulled together, I threw myself into work. Designing those sparkling gold star earrings that May, I thought of Issy.
