“Warrior. Soldier. Survivor. Mentor. Messer. LOLer. Lifer. Sharer. Giver. Laugher. Lover. Power. Sister. Mother. Nothing quite covers it.
There is no fitting enough title nor enough words to describe the unimaginable force that is Fiona Cribben and I say IS because there is too much energy and love and inspiration from her that is coursing through us all and keeping us upright.
The first law of thermodynamics states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; energy can only be transferred or changed from one form to another. I feel her still with all of us. I hear her laugh and feel her craic. No one made me laugh like she did. Nothing was ever covered up or held back. Nothing was off the table. Everything always up for discussion. I never have known someone I could sit and cry with and within seconds be in stitches laughing.
So many people reached out to me this week to share their condolences. So many people said, “I only met her once or twice but she had a huge impact on me. The first time you met Fiona you knew precisely who she was. It was incredible.
The hand she was dealt was crucifying and unfair and yet can anyone else say they know someone else who would describe the year they were diagnosed with a terminal illness the “best year of her life”? What she learned about herself and life and love in that year changed her and all of us forever. She loved ferociously. She laughed whole heartedly and empathised sincerely every day.
Fiona Cribben; grá mo chroí, there won’t be a day that passes that I don’t smile out loud when I think of love and laughs we shared. I love the bones of you and always will.
We are volcanoes.”
Words: Sally Foran
Fiona: Renaissance Woman by Ava Hewson (aged 14) was a finalist in the Zurich Young Portrait Prize which runs in the Millennium Wing Studio of the National Gallery until Sunday January 12.
