“I grew up rurally and we always had a teapot with a knitted cosy on the breakfast table…Mum always made a pot for visitors too and I’ve always associated tea with connection.”
In the space of a decade, Anna Kydd has experienced more hardship than most people do in a lifetime.
In 2013, her husband Andy was diagnosed with Stage IV bowel cancer – a massive shock. He was just 35 at the time and Anna was seven months pregnant with their first child.
The 12 months after his diagnosis were exceptionally difficult for the couple: Andy underwent two surgeries and 12 debilitating rounds of chemo, while Anna looked after their newborn, Vienna, who cried all the time and never slept. “The year was total survival for us,” remembers Anna. “I was just existing – at that point, I didn’t have any tools or skills for how to manage stress.”
After Andy’s twelfth round of chemo, scans showed no signs of cancer and the couple breathed a sigh of relief. But things weren’t over yet. For a few years after his initial treatment, Andy seemed reasonably well – the couple moved back to New
