In 2024, her Welsh father Simon was diagnosed with lung cancer – less than seven months later he died.
Her English-born mother, Paula, who had struggled with alcohol addiction for years, “couldn’t fathom the fact he’d gone”, she said.
A few months later, in December, she also died.
“My mum and dad weren’t together, so I always think it was a bit of a broken heart as well,” said Meg.
She was crying most days as she struggled to come to terms with the losses, and said it taught her how to be vulnerable and “how being open and honest actually helps people help you”.
Meg still has two siblings in Cardiff and reflecting on the most difficult aspects, added: “We went from a family of five, to a family of three.”
Christmas triggers many emotions and memories.
She remembers the “tinsel my mum had put up and it was a bit tacky but I kind of loved it”, “the colour floating around”, her mother’s “wrapping” and how her mum loved “making it special for us”.
After her parents separation, she recalled how her dad “felt bad” because “mum used to buy all the presents”.
He gifted her and her siblings a cheap “little perfume”, wrapped with “so much Sellotape, you couldn’t get into it”.
“It was just the cutest thing, because it showed he cared, and it was the thought that mattered,” she said.
“They’re those small bits that I definitely miss and I’m sure I’ll sit and reflect on and think I wish I had those times again.
“I’ll probably sit and cry, but happy tears as well, not always sad.”
